Connoisseurs
by Merle's
Summary: Takes place after "Delinquents". After Bo's dawning Lauren is still struggling with the break-up. Tamsin tries to handle her dispute with the Wanderer. Bo has to adjust to her new power, affecting all her relationships with her friends and family. doccubus vs. copdoc
1. Chapter 1

_No copyright infringement intended. I do not own the characters of Lost Girl on SyFy. _

If I did doccubus or copdoc would be canon.

I.

Lauren shivered. Standing in the open, her soft leather jacket didn't help much against the rain. Or the blowing wind. If she had known where exactly she was going she would have brought her umbrella and warmer clothing, she had anticipated the rain after all, but now… Her thoughts trailed off as she shifted her weight to the other leg and pulled her jacket closer around her again. The water kept on falling with a low and steady drumming noise. She rung the bell a second time and hoped that she had come to the right address. The scribbled note she had found on her desk this morning displayed just two lines: a street name with a house number, and come.

As there were only two people in the world who knew where she kept the key to her laboratory – the first one being her boss, the Ash, the person who had originally given her that key – it was obvious who had written it. At first she was determined not to go, since she was still not ready to face Bo, not just yet. But by the time she had sorted new blood samples into her Fae data network, run tests on a new project and collected several good mtDNA templates, which highly supported a theory of hers, the thought of this dubious piece of paper had crossed her mind more than once. It made her wonder.

The letters were neat and slender, but the paper felt rough and had been crumpled-up. The message was clear, but the author hadn't signed or addressed Lauren. And it had been placed in the middle of her desk, where it definitely had not been when she left. No one else had access to her office unless she was around. In short, it was nothing what Bo would do. Lauren had thought about calling her about this as well, but that would have been even more awkward.

A quick search on the internet didn't help either. The address was somewhere in the rather expensive part of the city, with a lot of banks and lawyers nearby. When Lauren had finally made up her mind, she expected some sort of glass and steel building, judging from what her research had brought up. Enough to spark her interest, the house she finally found was not. Wedged between a modern apartment block with several expensive-looking boutiques and a skyscraper, there stood a small, huddled, and somewhat run-down looking building with just two floors. Lights were on in the second floor, and one window was opened widely. Driving past white curtains were visible on the inside. Luckily, she could park nearby and did not have to walk much, but she was getting wetter every minute. That there was no name sign to be seen made her wary. The whole situation was suspicious.

Lauren hoped that Bo had a good explanation. A part in her had dreaded this moment, just as much as the other part had longed for it. If Bo wanted to fix their relationship, to make up what had gone wrong, even though that was hardly possible, Lauren would fall for it again, and she knew it.

She sighed. Her sleeping troubles had come back. There was a constant piercing throbbing right behind her temples every time she closed her eyes. Even the extra amount of work she had flung herself into did not help. She was very good at handling stressful situations. But this was no adrenaline rush, no fatal virus, not even a deadline approaching. Just pain.

Just when she decided that she had come at the wrong time after all, despite the fact that there was none written on the note, she heard light footsteps on the other side of the wooden door. When it was opened warm light poured out on the street and illuminated a silhouette Lauren had not expected at all. With a wine glass in one hand, the blond hair tumbling down over her shoulder as usual, and a smug grin on the lips and in the bright green eyes, Tamsin stood in the door frame. Lauren stared.

"Finally, Doc! I almost thought you hadn't received my letter", the Fae said, welcoming Lauren to her home with a sweeping gesture. "Come in."

"You have got to be kidding me" Lauren answered, recovering from the slight shock. Which rapidly begun to turn into anger, as she watched the grin on Tamsin's lips widening. Lauren had not forgotten what she had told her the last time they had spoken. "What on earth is going on here?"


	2. Chapter 2

II

Tamsin stepped further aside and waved her again inside. "Look, you can turn around now and stay in the rain" – Lauren was on the verge of doing so – "or you could just listen to me for one second. I have something in my living room I need a Fae scientist to look at."

Lauren glared at her angrily.

"How did you get into my lab?" She demanded to know, finally storming past Tamsin. She was still not really willing to enter Tamsin's house and the rain was the least of her concerns at the moment, but this was beginning to look like an especially annoying piece of work. She did not want to be here, but if she could just get on with it, it would probably spare her even more trouble. Though she didn't understand the effort Tamsin had made.

"Heck, Lauren, calm down" Tamsin replied, closing the door while Lauren took off her jacket. "It's my job, remember?"

"I thought you were responsible for arresting criminals, not burgling yourself."

"Well, if you really want to know it, I've got a spare key from Hale, since your lab is on his compound. You can see it as a part of this whole Light and Dark friendship project." Tamsin explained while Lauren put her jacket on a steel clothes hanger, somewhat pleased about noticing that it would leave a large puddle of water on the floor. Turning around she raised her eyebrow and inquired: "You mean you nicked his key while he was looking away and copied it?"

Tamsin's initial grin at Lauren's surprise had yielded quickly to an expression of annoyance at Lauren's further reaction, but these words made her smirk again. "I see why you're his leading scientist."

She led her through the hall in the next room, apparently the adjoining living room. Now Lauren couldn't help but notice the furniture and whole interior. She had not paid much attention to it before. It didn't match the outside of the building at all. Everything was neat and elegant, and mainly made of steel and glass. Almost only steel and glass, in fact, just occasionally very dark wood. It looked very expensive and felt not like somebody actually lived her. Lauren was not an expert on design, however, though she liked her own rather modern flat very much. She tried her best to keep it light and warm. Despite from the memories linked to it… She shook her head and asked: "You could just have asked him then."

"Whom?"

"Hale. He'd have send me here, if it's so important."

"Well, I didn't want to borrow you."

"You just don't want him to know", stated Lauren dryly.

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "I am trying to be nice, okay? I am not exactly happy about this situation, either."

"So, what exactly is it you need me to see so urgently?" asked Lauren. She really wanted to get over with this as soon as possible.

The Dark Fae pointed at a round table. It stood alone in the back of the room, still dominating the whole atmosphere as soon as Lauren noticed it. A silver sphere, perfectly smooth and even, rested on the black wood. It had the size of a small football. Lauren was just about to ask Tamsin why she couldn't bring that large billiard ball to her lab like everyone else did with their stuff when Lauren noticed that something was odd about its surface. It showed no reflection of its surroundings, but rather seemed to radiate from within. It looked like a mirror, but displayed nothing but silver. Stepping closer she also noticed some sort of coldness streaming off it. A tingling sensation settled in her stomach and begun spreading from there. It made her wanting to turn around and leave even more.

However, that effect sparked the exact opposite reaction in Lauren's mind it originally intended. Its ability of purposely manipulating human emotions or even intentions intrigued her instantly.

"What exactly is that?" she asked again.

"What do you think?" Tamsin's reply made Lauren look up. She was not being mocked, altough she had thought so for a split second. Tamsin was very serious now. She did not focus on the sphere like Lauren, but on the scientist's reaction to it. "I want to hear your thoughts on it first."

"Well, it is definitely Fae." Lauren started walking around the table, circling the sphere. "Can I touch it?"

"Well, for now just look at what it does when I do" Tamsin answered and stepped forward. She laid her index finger lightly right on top of it. The silver surface was rippled immediately by light blue lines radiating from Tamsin's hand downwards, circling it, and meeting again beneath Tamsin's finger. A net of pulsing veins developed, at first thin as hairs, quickly growing larger and exploring new paths. They rushed around the sphere leaving traces of hidden trails, quicker and quicker as Lauren watched.

No pattern was visible just yet. But maybe after some time something would come up. Those lines did seem to become more centred certain spots. When they met there they were ripped apart in several smaller ones, or, occasionally, joined to become a very large one. Lauren tried to find the rules. She was certain that there were some, determining the directions of the blue lines wrapped around the sphere. There had to be, the net of veins was beginning to seem almost symmetrical, although every single one of them appeared to behave completely random. She bend forward, fascinated, to get a better look.

When Tamsin removed her finger the blue cracks in the sphere begun to fade as fast as they had appeared. It had just taken a couple of seconds. Tamsin let out her breath, which she had hold during the show.

"So, what do you know about Scandinavian folklore and mythology?"


	3. Chapter 3

So, the chapters are finally getting a bit longer. This time I wrote a bit about Norway and Norse myths. I tried to stick to facts (almost all the time). If you find something definitely wrong don't hesitate to tell me!

III.

Lauren stood up and seated herself in one of the chrome and black leather armchairs. She folded her legs, and crossed her arms above her chest. "I'm listening."  
It was obvious that Tamsin felt uncomfortable talking about this. She started walking up and down the room, gesturing and avoiding Lauren's eyes. She doesn't like the situation either, Lauren thought. Well then, let's stay professional and just work together like usual.

After taking a deep breath, Tamsin begun: "Let's start with a bit of geography. There is this archipelago called Lofoten, or Vestvågøya." How she let the word slip of the tip of her tongue made Lauren realize how little she actually knew about the Dark Fae. Not that she had ever cared much, she was Dark after all and thus, by law, not of her concern. But they did know each other for quite some time now. And she pronounced the foreign word with its strange sounds without any difficulty, rather with a faint note of melancholy, as far as Lauren could judge. Lauren was sure that she could speak that language perfectly. Maybe it was even her mother tongue. Indeed, Tamsin paused for a heartbeat and let the word hang there in the air, conjuring up images in her head that were slowly fading away.  
Lauren made a mental note to look Vestvågøya up as soon as she got home again.

Tamsin continued with her story as if that little word had set something going in her, as if it had opened a door she couldn't close again. Listening to her, Lauren wondered whether the sphere had similar effects on Tamsin as on her. This whole thing did become interesting. "It's part of Nordland, a Norwegian county. Lofoten itself refers to the southern tip of a chain of islands. The very first towns of northern Norway were built there. Later settlers you would today call Vikings arrived. It's unique. Abundant codfish shoals along the reefs and relatively high temperatures made it perfect for fishermen. Trading hubs followed. The people living there became quickly immensely rich and remained so until maybe 50 years ago, when bigger fishing companies started to pop up and bought almost all the licences. But that's another story. The point is that there are certain, very old rumours about that wealth. Where it really comes from and so on. Of course, mainly started by greedy residents from other regions, envying Lofoten." Tamsin grinned. "As usual in human history, the Fae play an important role as well. These stories basically state that the Lofoten islanders could fight gods and thus enslaved them, forcing deities to control the weather and the fish swarms. However, in fact, scientists found out that the Gulf Stream is responsible for that, but well, you know how humans think."

Lauren decided to take that as one of Tamsin's usual bad humoured jokes and not as an insult. "So, actually we weren't involved in that. And that is the really interesting thing. In fact, there are no Fae records about that region at all, not since the very first ancient Fae. Absolutely none. As if we avoided Lofoten on purpose."  
Lauren frowned. "That is not likely. Fae are attracted by human settlements and especially by wealth. If people lived there for so long, Fae would have appeared. Who are those ancients? Maybe it's because of them."

"They are just very, very old Fae. Almost all of them are dead now and the rest is very hard to find. They usually don't want contact to others, not even Fae and especially no humans. Almost all their similarities to humans have vanished over time and they have stopped caring about our activities long time ago. But that is what I mean. You can trace the Lotofen settlement back for thousands of years. But no Fae. Believe me, I've tried, and I would have found them."

Lauren wondered if she should ask if Tamsin or her family – did she even have a family? – came from there. She thought better of it. "So, what has all this got to do with this thing?" She pointed at the sphere. It was again completely still, but still emitting that strange form of radiation. Now Lauren was sure that it was some form of radiation. It grew stronger if she focused on the sphere, but had faded away to a very faint pulse in the background when she was listening to Tamsin. She wondered what would happen if she touched it. Tamsin's effect on it had been quite impressive.

"Nordland has the world's largest deep water coral reefs as well. That is where I found it." Tamsin replied, looking at the silver sphere as well. "I believe that this thing is a part of this no-Fae mystery. It draws energy, Fae energy. All sorts of it."  
Lauren raised her eyebrows. Deep water coral reefs? She decided not to ask about that as well. For now. "No", she mumbled almost to herself, again turning back to the small shining object, "energy itself cannot be transformed or changed. There are no different forms, just other ways to tunnel it. Was that what it did before? To you?" Theories were already forming and developing in her head.

Tamsin looked questioningly at Lauren. "There are no different forms? But there are certainly differences between Fae abilities." She thought of the first example that came to her mind. "You can't compare Bo's chi to Dyson's wolf."  
Lauren almost flinched when Tamsin mentioned Bo. It brought her painfully back to where she was really sitting. And to whom she was speaking.  
She pulled herself together. "Yes and no. As I said, the energy remains the same; it's just used differently, according to the Fae's abilities" she said bluntly, avoiding Bo's name and especially the succubus' power. "I'm still not seeing why you are telling me all this."  
Tamsin raised her hands to her face and pressed them together, with her index fingers against her lips. "I think it kept Fae away, or was part of a Fae defence system of some sort. Long time ago the Norse Fae could become quite unfriendly toward humans." Something made her chuckle here. "Maybe they did figure something out to fight them off. I know you're more like a physician, but I need someone I can trust to look at it. To find out how that works." Tamsin looked at her hands when she said this.  
"You trust me?" Lauren's voice dripped with scepticism.  
"Because this is about Bo's safety."

Tamsin played her game well, Lauren thought bitterly. Her expression became completely blank again and the hand she had raised before gesturing dropped in her lap. "You won't tell me why, though, will you?"  
She noticed that the rain had stopped by now. This living room opened to the back and not to the street where Lauren had left her car. Outside it was calm now, and considerably darker than before. Lauren could hardly catch sight of the shapes of the tree that was standing in front of the only window she could look through from her position. The window was very large, just thinly framed, made to let light through.

"Exactly" Tamsin smirked at her, again completely confident. She knew that she had Lauren now, and let the human see it. "So, what do you think it is? How does it work?" Tamsin asked and finally sat down, flinging herself in the chair on the opposite of Lauren.  
"I don't know yet. It looks like a completely strange kind of electricity. I really don't know." Lauren said, again focusing on the sphere and not on the background story. "I will have to run some tests."  
"Can you do them here?"  
"Why? My lab is better equipped, even though as you said my research is usually more based on biology."  
"I usually don't bring work home, you know, I don't place dead people's liver samples next to my lunch in the refrigerator", Tamsin snapped. "But your lab is overrun by people who have no business with this. As is your place."  
Lauren didn't answer. Though putting it in other words would do no harm, Tamsin had a point there. But in no way Lauren would let herself be drawn into this without knowing what it was really about. She had done that often enough and look at the results. "Look, I am working for the Ash. I have no idea how much time this thing here will cost me. I just can't skip my real work."  
"I can talk to Hale. He will listen, believe me" Tamsin tilted her head to the side. "This sphere is powerful. Very powerful, and dangerous. I don't want anyone to know about it. Especially not your boss, nor the Morrigan."  
Lauren looked up. "You are hiding this even from her?" Tamsin replied by smirking.  
"So, did it draw energy from you before?" Lauren wanted to know, earning time before she had to made her final answer.  
Tamsin hesitated. "Not exactly. No, in fact, it didn't. But that's a hereditary thing, family business. You it'd probably kill."  
Lauren stared at her, disbelieving. "Well, it is most certainly effective", she said finally very dryly.  
In that moment the door bell rung. The two women stared at each other. "Are you expecting someone?"


	4. Chapter 4

IV

Of course it was Bo, Lauren thought. It had always been here and would always be. She needed to get out.

To be fair, Bo was following homicide detective Dyson, who in turn was apparently looking for his colleague Tamsin. However, in a way, this made matters even worse. Lauren swallowed. She knew that Dyson's feelings for Bo were still deeply rooted within him. And she knew that Bo cared very much about him as well. She had seen it, not just after the Dawning. He was much more than just Bo's "first real boyfriend". He was the first Fae that had looked after Bo, who had trusted her completely and whom she could trust as well. He was the first man around whom she could allow herself to be completely careless, no obligatory, protective walls needed. Dyson was Bo's first anchor, a fixed point in her life. Of course Bo had fallen for him. Lauren sighed, wondering what she was fooling herself for.

She could hear their muffled voices through the half closed door. They were coming nearer. Tamsin led them through the hall into the room where Lauren sat. When they entered Lauren stood up, went around the chair and uttered "Hello" while smoothing her blouse. She placed herself purposely right in front of the small table with the still weakly glinting sphere on it.

Dyson, curiously looking at her, greeted back and went with Tamsin to another large table near to another door on the other side of the room. Above it were pictures pinned to the wall, splashes of colour in the solitude of chrome and black wood. Lauren suspected that Tamsin _was_ bringing work home, despite denying it. She and Dyson were probably talking about a case. Their position within the human police was a time-demanding job. They were basically working 24 hours a day. Not that they couldn't handle it. Tamsin threw a meaningful glance towards Lauren, obviously warning her not to mention what they had discussed earlier. So much for "overrun by people who have no business with it".

But Lauren focused on the third Fae in the room. Bo had stopped short upon meeting Lauren in Tamsin's living room. Her gaze was equally surprised, and lingered, a second too long for Lauren not to notice it, on the dark rings beneath Lauren's eyes. She was wearing a leather jacket, tight boots and jeans, all black, of course. Her hair spilled down her back. She looked gorgeous. Her posture was upright and self-assured. The dawning had really changed her whole attitude. She exhaled confidence with every breath. A smile lighted up her face when their eyes met. "Hi" she replied softly. "How are you?"

Lauren managed to smile back. "What are you doing here?"  
"I could ask you the same, Doc", Bo answered. Her voice sounded almost playfully as she strode up to Lauren, slowly closing the space between them. "There is a new case, about a vanished Fae. We are hunting a Leprechaun." She grinned. "Maybe we get a pot of gold if we catch him." Her tone was nonchalant and calm, but her eyes gave her curiosity away. She approached Lauren without looking away. Lauren crossed her arms in front of her chest.  
A small part of her wondered whether the two new Fae could feel the presence of the small object behind Lauren's back. But it's influence on her draw back as she tried to concentrate on it. It somehow lapsed into silence.

Just then Dyson and Tamsin came back. "Nice place" he said, looking around.  
"Yeah. I've been visiting some old friends who owed me a favour. Turns out, they had exactly the thing in mind I was looking for. Way better than where I lived before." Tamsin's voice had found that distinct note on the edge of sneering again. "How did you find the address?" she asked casually.  
Dyson admitted grinning that he had seen an open email with the address on her computer and decided to just drive around until he found her truck. Tamsin was not very happy about that answer. She threatened going through his stuff the next time he dared to look at her things again. Dyson apologized immediately, still grinning, and said that he had really just seen the address and nothing else. It was still visibly bothering Tamsin, though. At first her place and now her desk. She needed to be more careful. Bo changed the subject by asking about what she knew about the Leprechaun.

Lauren seized the opportunity to excuse herself. "Well, then, I am going to leave you to your case. It's really getting late." As she went to the door Tamsin and Dyson said goodbye, Dyson still very curious but holding back his obvious questions. He was sure to ask his colleague later. Tamsin on the other hand looked still alert and wary.

Bo followed her into the hall. Lauren had feared that. She needed time on her own. Especially to think about the things Tamsin had said, or rather not said but implied. She had to figure out what to do.  
Bo complicated everything, as usual. "Lauren?" Her voice was quiet and soft. "Can we talk?"  
"Look, I don't know if that's a good idea." Lauren answered, putting on her jacket and avoiding Bo's eyes.  
Bo came closer. Her steps didn't make any sound and her movements were graceful and fluent. If she wanted to she could just stretch out her hand and touch her. Lauren tried to look everywhere but Bo's face. The succubus wasn't making this easy.  
"Please. You are still my doctor. Sort of. I acknowledge and respect that you need space. But can I visit you at your lab? As your patient?"  
Finally Lauren looked up. Bo was honest and open. She didn't avert her eyes. Lauren forced herself to keep her own emotionless expression. "Are you experiencing anything unusual?" she inquired.

Bo laughed melodiously. "No. Nothing in particular." Her glance dropped to the floor. "Actually yes, there is something. I think it started with the Dawning. I didn't notice it at first, but it's growing stronger."  
Lauren frowned. She lacked experience with the Dawning. It was something very deeply fixed within the Fae traditions, she had never even had the chance to catch a glimpse of it before. She was human, after all. She didn't belong in this world. All the knowledge about the Dawning she had acquired came from reading very old books.

Bo continued with less ease than she had shown before. "Well, you know how I see people. Energy. Auras. _Chi._" Lauren nodded. Bo shot her a glance to make sure that their conversation was still within the limits. Her caution was not unjustified. Lauren thought about ending their talk already. But Bo's behaviour made her stay.

Bo shifted her weight from one leg to another. Then she bit her lip. "It's nothing bad or anything. Just different. I'm somehow starting to see auras clearer. More colourful, in a way, and sometimes even moving or shifting. You know I just used to see them when I was looking for Chi, but now they are always there. Not distracting, not at all, and just somehow in the background."  
Bo's apparent uneasiness discussing the topic worried Lauren. As a doctor she knew that the succubus had exceptional powers and was just beginning to develop them. As her former girlfriend she knew that Bo was deeply afraid of herself.  
"Okay" she said. "I'll see you tomorrow."  
Mistake, she thought to herself, mistake, mistake, _stupid _mistake_._ She had to stay focused. She had done this before, and she could do this again. She had to stay professional. It was not that difficult.  
Bo smiled. "Thank you, Lauren. Really."  
Lauren smiled at her. "Of course."  
Then she went to the door. Bo was still not looking at her. With one fluent movement she caught Lauren's wrist in her hand, surprisingly quickly. Lauren stopped dead, facing the door with her other hand already on the doorknob. She didn't look around, but pulled her hand softly out of Bo's grasp. She had to get out. _Now._  
Her walls crumbled, here and now, when Bo murmured "It's just that I _need_ you."


	5. Chapter 5

V

Lauren overslept that morning. Which in itself was very unusual, something that had not happened in quite some time. The night before had been bad, though. Her thoughts wouldn't shut up about the last day. A part of her couldn't stop rummaging in the back of her head for a clue about that thing Tamsin had presented her. It was fascinating and it bothered her that she had absolutely no idea what to make of it. And then her thoughts always trailed back to what Tamsin had said about the sphere's importance for 'Bo's safety'. That worried her more. And _then_ she started thinking about her meeting with Bo, despite her attempts to forget it for the moment. She couldn't help herself. It didn't matter how much she tried to put the memory into a small box and shove it out of her mind, Bo's face always popped up again, right in front of Lauren's eyes. And her slender fingers laid around Lauren's wrist. She needed to figure out what was happening between the two of them. At that point Lauren purposely forced herself to think of something else. She had to draw a line. Her mind returned to Tamsin's sphere. The vicious circle of whirling blue lines and eyes began again.

After lying awake for hours she had finally fell in a long and exhausted sleep that was neither interrupted by her own, usually very accurate biological clock, nor by the alarm on her bedside table. She finally opened her eyes when the sunlight begun streaming through the small gap between the curtains of her bedroom window. The growing brightness woke her up. Dust particles danced in the ray of light. If she concentrated she could even hear a bird singing outside. She felt surprisingly good. Refreshed. Lauren had needed that couple of hours of deep, undisturbed sleep. Her mind, still sleepy, drifted away, wondering what sort of singing bird it was. Then the realization hit her what time it must be when the sun was already high enough to fall through her window. Cursing, she sat up abruptly and looked at the alarm. It showed a little bit after nine. She should have been at the lab one hour ago.

Lauren jumped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. Rushing past her bedside table she cursed again when she heard paper sheets rustling – which she had read before finally trying to fall asleep last night – and falling to the floor behind her. She showered and clothed as quickly as possible. Her light hair whirled around her head while she sprinted up and down on the search of her stuff for the lab. Skipping breakfast she left the house just in time to arrive only a couple of minutes after the last of her colleagues. Or – newly – subordinates. Whatever.

Because Lauren had checked her schedule in the car she could instruct her assistant while putting her lab coat on. He had already been waiting for her. There were a thousand things to do. Samples had to be checked and compared, growth measured, mutations examined, new forensic reports, there was among others a container full of Salamander explosives a Fire Fae had brought for determining its origin, which Lauren definitely wanted out of her lab as soon as possible, and the paperwork was threatening to crush her desk. Sighing, Lauren threw her hair back over the collar of the lab coat and set to work.

And then there was Bo supposed to show up at as well. Probably around 10. Lauren had still a little bit of time left. Bustling around eased her mind. It was distraction, plain and simple, and she knew it. But 10 o'clock came and went. One hour later there was still no Bo in sight.

She finally showed up at 11.30. Staring through the microscope Lauren barely noticed that the door had opened. Her desk faced the door, but her instruments occupied another table, so she had her back to the entrance. The moment she heard Bo's rather husky voice mumbling "Hi, Lauren" right behind her, she froze. She was sure that Bo had been standing there for some time. Turning around, Lauren saw her leaning against one of the other shelves at the back of the room. Bo smiled. She wore one of her outfits for work, with a small dagger on her hip. Lauren answered with a short "Hello."

"So, what are you working on?" Bo asked, stepping away from the shelf and starting to move around the room. She let her eyes and hands wander across the various items standing around.  
"Nothing in particular. Just the usual." Lauren turned off the microscope and, leaning backwards in her chair, started flipping through Bo's file. It had lain on her desk all morning. Bo looked up from a pile of forensic records. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here earlier. The case got messy. Dyson or Tamsin will probably show up later. They are still cleaning up."

Lauren chose to ignore the hint and focused on Bo's examination instead. "So, basically you are worried about what the Dawning may have caused, which means that I have to gather new data. We've stopped checking you regularly during your preparations." Bo's biochemistry could indeed have been affected by whatever happened in the Temple.  
"Yes." Bo answered quietly, fixing her eyes on Lauren with that honest and open expression of hers. She seated herself in the chair in front of Lauren's desk. "And I just wanted to say that I am really grateful for your help, Lauren." Beneath her playful tone she sounded sincere. "Well, you were the first one who told me that I could be even more powerful than anyone else thinks. When we were fighting the Mare."  
Lauren recalled it vividly. It had been during the first weeks of Lachlan being the Ash, shortly before he practically imprisoned her in the Light compound. Bo had tried to defend her, not accepting that Lauren was Fae property, by law. "You remember?" She asked, without looking up from the papers in her hands.  
"Of course."

"Before I can say anything I have to run some tests. At first I will only need a blood sample from you." Lauren shot Bo a short glance and picked up their original topic again. "I'll get someone in the medical facilities to do that."  
"Lauren, I haven't talked about this to anyone, except you. If there is something wrong with me, could we, uhm, maybe not make it public knowledge?" Bo pleaded, slightly leaning forward.

Lauren was still skimming numbers on Bo's old medical records, which in itself was very unnecessary. She knew almost all of them by heart. There was nothing unusual about them, for a succubus, except that her shots were not working anymore. "What, you too? So much secrecy all of a sudden." Lauren stated, almost to herself  
"What?" Bo sat up and looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing." Lauren waved vaguely. "Besides, we are just running tests. That's nothing special, really. It shows that things are getting normal again." She picked up the phone on her desk to call her assistant.  
Bo was still frowning about Lauren's attempt to dodge the question about the sudden increase in secrecy, but she let the topic drop to stop Lauren from getting someone from the medical department. "But the results would get out. I just don't want anyone else to know." She sounded tense. "Please."

Now Lauren was frowning. What kind of results was Bo expecting if it freaked her out so much? She put the phone back and laid the file aside. Then she sat up as well and studied Bo intensely across the desk between them. They were facing each other now, both with their hands resting on the table, almost symmetrically. "You're afraid, I can see it. Why?"

"I – I just don't know, okay?" Suddenly Bo jumped up and started pacing up and down. She gestured frantically and avoided Lauren's gaze, who leaned back again.  
"It's as I said. I'm seeing Chi auras more intensely. _Way_ more intensely. And that means that I also think much more about sucking Chi out of people. But I don't mean sex. Sadly." She gave a short, dark laugh and continued more quiet than before. "That wouldn't be as bad. I mean randomly draining people of their energy just - because I can. I'm not even particularly hungry. And it's getting _worse…_" She trailed off, stopped in the middle of the room and closed her eyes, putting one hand on her hip and pressing the other to her forehead. "What if it slips out of my control?"

"Calm down, Bo. We just have to figure something new out, new shots against it. It's okay." Lauren said softly. She was afraid of the succubus' outbreaks and Bo knew it. That was one of the points they had never really talked about. But in that moment it was Bo breaking down.  
"_No, it's not!_" she yelled suddenly, but Lauren didn't flinch back. Bo took a deep breath and added "What if I actually do something?" She sounded like a little child.

Lauren stood up, went around the table and put her hand gently on Bo's shoulder. "We'll figure something out. I promise." Bo's reaction worried her deeply. Up until now she had been sure that Bo could handle the succubus within her quite well. Lauren had only seen her losing it when she was in very deep trouble. Or someone threatened Lauren. But Bo had grown continually stronger. And the Dawning had promised to be another big step in that direction.

Bo looked up and smiled at her thankfully. Lauren was surprised to see that the outburst had made her eyes glistening. "I'm sorry, Lauren. I didn't mean to freak out like this. It's just that lately I've been having trouble with Kenzi as well and… It's a lot at the moment."

"Don't worry. You're right on top of my list." Lauren answered, trying to ease Bo. Lauren smiled at her, took her hand off Bo and stepped to a small drawer next to her desk. It contained among other things antiseptics, a tight band, cotton wool pads and a syringe, which she took out of it. She had kept her office equipped with stuff like this, even though her actual occupations had shifted with the, well, promotion she had received from Hale.

During that Bo took her seat again. She smiled gratefully once more when she saw what Lauren was doing. While she pulled up her sleeve Lauren pushed her own chair around the table next to Bo's. She sat down as well. Bo stretched out her arm and Lauren put the band around it. Focusing on Bo's arm she told her to keep slowly clenching her hand into a fist. Her fingers rested on Bo's elbow and wrist, feeling for the vein and the pulse. After a moment she put the antiseptics on and murmured "This might hurt a little." Bo was already grinning again. "Alright, Doc."

Annoyingly, Lauren experienced the tingling sensation herself, which she had wanted to warn her patient about as well. But she couldn't help it. It was being so close to Bo again. At least her fingertips didn't tremble but moved with ease, although the tingling feeling started there, whenever she lightly brushed Bo with them, and begun running down her arms.

What annoyed her even more was that Bo seemed to be totally aware of the effect she had on the doctor. Lauren wondered whether Bo's arm burnt as well where she touched it.

The vein was showing clearly beneath Bo's skin. Lauren's fingers traced it carefully. She injected the needle without hesitation. Then she concentrated on her blood sample and avoided looking up, since she was sure that Bo's eyes were not resting on the syringe but on the doctor's face. Lauren had to force herself not to smile. After a couple of minutes the attached container was full with blood. Lauren pulled the needle out of Bo's arm again and quickly put a cotton tab on the vein. She gently held it there until a small red spot appeared in its centre. She exchanged the pad with a new one and told Bo to hold it herself this time. Bo complied silently while Lauren labelled the sample with indecipherable marks. She didn't stand up, though, to get out of Bo's personal space. Their knees were nearly touching. The whole procedure happened almost without a word. Bo hold completely still and watched Lauren move with skill and experience. She enjoyed their closeness, even if it was just for a medical examination like this, and avoided every movement that could potentially destroy it.

"Do you want a saliva sample as well?" Bo asked, grinning. She had pulled herself together again.  
"No, that's enough for now. Maybe later, when I have this examined" Lauren answered. She would do that right away. Lauren was particularly interested in the white blood cells and the self healing capacity of the succubus. She wanted to find out whether her immune system was still fighting becoming an Underfae. It was highly unlikely, seeing as the Dawning had been successful, but maybe that would explain the strange symptoms Bo was showing. Lauren tended towards the hypothesis that there was still something within her system, something that blocked her self-control.

Bo stood up and threw the cotton pad she was still holding in the bin. No more blood appeared on the inside of her elbow and she pulled the sleeve of her v-necked shirt down again. "Well, then I will stop interrupting your work. Call me if you find something. And thanks again."  
"It's fine, really. I am your doctor, as you said."  
Bo hesitated before adding softly "But we are friends as well?"

Lauren didn't like where this was going. They had avoided each other over the last few weeks. It was exactly this topic she tried to evade. She didn't want to define their relationship. The terms they were softly treading on threatened to splinter at the first wrong step. Lauren didn't want it to crush and burn. Again. And the lines were already blurring. But then Lauren smiled half-heartedly before nodding in agreement "Friends." They were adults, after all. They could handle it.

The smile that lighted up Bo's face was radiant. Before finally walking through the door again she said "Oh, just one thing. You look absolutely stunning today."  
"Bo" Lauren replied calmly, looking up again from her desk. She gave her one of her crooked smiles for the compliment but added "Is that what you call giving me – us – space?"  
"No, just honesty. That's important as well." Bo grinned. She had won her confidence back, completely.  
Lauren didn't answer this time, she just raised her eyebrows. Mistake,_ again, _she recalled.  
"Look, you know me. I won't let you go without a fight." Bo said simply, and went out.

When Bo was long gone Lauren was still staring at the blood sample in her hands. It was all horribly wrong. She shouldn't be doing this with Bo again and she knew it. It was like she was falling back again into a pattern that had dominated her whole life for far too long. Bo was going to far. She shouldn't have accepted that childish friendship suggestion. But it felt so good.

She was finally interrupted when the door Bo had closed so silently flew open again, this time with a loud bang. She flinched and jumped up immediately. It was Dyson, blood smeared on his hands and shirt, dragging a half unconscious Tamsin with him. Lauren ran around the table, grabbing pressure bandages from the still opened drawer with the stack of medical supplies. There was blood pulsating out of a long cut on Tamsin's temple and neck, dripping red on her white top, and apparently one of her knees had been damaged as well as she had to lean heavily on Dyson, who supported her stumbling walk. Tamsin gasped with pain. They were followed by Lauren's lab assistant who was alternately yelling either at the shape shifter for bringing a Dark Fae to the Light compound, or at Lauren for informing the Ash. Dyson uttered through his clenched teeth "Help, Lauren, quickly."


	6. Chapter 6

VI

It took Lauren a couple of seconds to grasp the situation. Dyson had Tamsin's arm across his shoulders and held it there with one hand. With his other hand, laid around Tamsin's waist and gripping her side, he tried to keep his partner upright and walking.

His expression was grim. Tamsin had her eyes closed, obviously in pain. She pressed her hand to her neck, blood welling from between her fingers. All similarities to the sneering dark Fae had vanished. She was almost unrecognizable and looked like she was about to lose consciousness. Without paying the slightest attention to Lauren's frantic lab assistant, Dyson steered Tamsin towards one of the tables next to the door. When he cleaned it with one sweeping gesture of all things standing or laying on it, the lab assistant's voice spiralled a few octaves higher and nearly shrieked in horror. Papers and bottles fell to the floor, scattering in all directions while Dyson picked up Tamsin and laid her flatly on the table. She let out a gasp when Dyson lifted her up.

And then suddenly without warning the wounds and the sight of blood on Dyson's hands and Tamsin's clothes brought memories from a lifetime ago back to Lauren's mind. She did what she always did in those situations and stopped thinking. Her training kicked in. She forced herself not to remember that she had acquired it in Afghanistan. While going through the drawer with the medical supplies she told her assistant to calm down and get another doctor. He didn't react immediately but yelled, again, that there was absolutely no way they could treat a Dark Fae at the Light compound.

Dyson took a step in his direction and growled. He looked like he was about to break his jaw if he kept talking. Lauren snapped at her assistant with her calm, work-mode voice. Unsurprisingly, the threat of charge with disobedience worked. He almost ran out of Lauren's office. But he did have a point. They needed to get Tamsin out of here as quickly as possible, if they wanted to avoid a serious breach of diplomatic rules.

Lauren gathered all the things in her reach and carried them to Tamsin. She asked Dyson to press a bandage against the cuts on Tamsin's head and neck and to tell her what happened, while she quickly checked Tamsin's body for other injuries. The white bandage quickly turned red beneath his hands.

"I have no idea." Dyson sounded deeply worried. "Normally Tamsin would never let anything like this happen."

He managed to tell Lauren all the major points. They had been investigating a case, searching an empty warehouse in the docks for traces of a missing Fae. Lauren swallowed. The docks were neutral territory. Everything could lurk there. Dyson and Tamsin had not expected anyone, though. Bo had been with them as well, she was the expert for everything neutral, but she left earlier.

Consequently the two detectives split up to save time and get away again as quickly as possible. The next thing Dyson knew was hearing fighting noises from the other end of the warehouse. He doubled back and found Tamsin already hurt, and two other, unconscious Fae. They had probably surprised Tamsin but she managed to use her powers on them, taking them out. Now they were in custody, still not awake again.

Lauren focused on her patient. There were two long, almost horizontal cuts, one on her right temple and the other one underneath it, on her neck. Both were bleeding readily, like head wounds tend to do. Tamsin's blonde hair on the right side of her head was already a sticky red mess. She didn't wear it open today, though, which helped. Lauren guessed that both cuts had been inflicted by the same, fortunately clean and neat, blade. Carefully Lauren tried to wipe away some of the blood to get a better look. Tamsin's skin felt damp with cold sweat.

"How do you feel?" Lauren asked.

"Could have been worse."

The second cut was not as deeply as it had seemed, though. Tamsin had been really lucky. A little deeper and more to the right and her artery would have been in serious danger. She flinched a little when Lauren examined her there, even though the doctor tried to be as softly and carefully as possible.

Asking her about the attack proved to be useless. "Just stop the bleeding before it ruins my shirt", she hissed between clenched teeth. Lauren didn't bother to tell her that it was way too late for that. But she noticed that Tamsin clutched the edge of the table beneath her so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

As Lauren had thought Tamsin's knee looked badly as well, like someone had kicked it. Then there were huge bruises on her arms. Tamsin's blood stained shirt had been pushed up a little, revealing a small part of her stomach right above her hip. Lauren discovered dark bruises there as well.

They worried Lauren immensely. If internal organs had been damaged Tamsin could bleed to death within half an hour without anyone noticing. Luckily, her stomach wasn't hard to Lauren's touch, which would have been the case if there had been a lot of blood in it.

Still, Lauren was not reassured. The situation was already complicated enough. In case things got worse they couldn't perform even a minor surgery on one of the Morrigan's most cherished Fae in the Light hospital. Not a single one of their doctors would cooperate. Hale would personally rip her head off. Even if he tried to improve the Light and Dark Fae relationships, this went too far. Kicking them out was the least of the things Hale could do to Tamsin, here in the very centre of his power.

And her assistant was still not back. He was probably already on his way to the Ash.

"Why have you brought her here in the first place?" Lauren asked finally, interrupting Dyson's story. At this point he was already getting erratic. He had done all he could and now he was forced to rely on Lauren. He wasn't very good at standing by, not being able to help.

But then he brought up the most interesting part of the story: "I have no idea, honestly. No offence, Lauren, you are the best at handling this, but Tamsin is Dark. But she wanted me to bring her here."

Lauren frowned at this, while putting on green plastic gloves. The cut on Tamsin's temple definitely needed stiches, if she wanted to stop the bleeding. She was at least going to do them here, as long as she still could. She hoped that no one would come by for another of couple of minutes. "What?" she asked, not looking away from her patient.

Tamsin decided that this was the right moment to open her eyes slightly and join the discussion. "I need you to get me to the stæin" she uttered to no one in particular, almost inaudibly. Neither Dyson nor Lauren fully understood her last word.

"Stain? What stain? What the hell is she talking about?" Dyson looked confused and increasingly irritated.

But Lauren guessed what Tamsin meant. She decided against the stitches and closed the cuts with medical tape instead. It wouldn't hold long, but it was better than nothing and at least the bleeding stopped. "Dyson, we have to get her home. I think there is something what could help her." Tamsin tried to nod but ended up wincing in pain. "But we have to hurry" Lauren added.

Dyson didn't hesitate. He helped Tamsin to her feet again while Lauren took off her lab coat and put a couple of things in her bag she would need for patching up Tamsin. Dyson on Tamsin's right and Lauren on her left side, they somehow managed to bring the limping Valkyrie to Lauren's car, which was closer to her office than Dyson's, who had parked right in front of the main entrance. On their way they received a lot of glances from the compound's personnel, either curious or openly enraged. Fae took their politics never easy and always personal. Luckily, no one tried to stop them. Lauren found out later on that they missed the security guards, alarmed by the doctor her assistant asked to come over, by less than a minute.

When they reached the car, Tamsin was out of breath and cursing. She didn't look good. Lauren regretted that she hadn't given her a dose of morphine, but then she had absolutely no idea of Tamsin's biochemistry and to inadvertently worsen the situation was the last thing she wanted. Neither the cuts nor the other wounds were alarmingly dangerous, as far as she could judge at the moment. And, if she was completely honest to herself, she didn't give too much for Tamsin's well-being.

Together Lauren and Dyson sat Tamsin on the passenger seat. She had problems with bending her knee and grimaced.

Dyson decided that he would follow them with his own car. He quickly went back to get it, and to call Hale from his phone which he had left in his car in the hurry of getting Tamsin to a doctor.

While she drove to Tamsin's house the only question Lauren got an answer to was: "It was stone, not stain, wasn't it?"

"You miss nothing, don't you? But yes,_ stæin_ means stone" Tamsin replied and fell back into silence. The bandage on her neck made speaking difficult. She closed her eyes.

When they finally arrived and parked this time right in front of Tamsin's house Lauren had to shake the groaning Dark Fae repeatedly to get her to opening her eyes once more. Immediately Lauren was back to worrying. If Tamsin lost consciousness something was severely wrong. And Dyson was not yet in sight again. Now she felt really lucky that she had trusted her instincts and not given Tamsin any sedatives.

But it didn't make sense. Tamsin's injuries were not that bad. There had to be something else affecting her. As far as Lauren knew Tamsin was a very powerful Fae. And now she looked like all her life-energy had left her.

Lauren got out of the car, stepped around it and helped Tamsin out of it as well. She tried to support her the same way Dyson had. Now she noticed that Tamsin had cold sweat on her forehead and the pupils in her unusually dull green eyes were dilated. Bad signs as well. Tamsin's physical condition deteriorated sharply. Lauren began cursing, internally. They shouldn't have left the Light compound with its facilities of medical treatment even if they were straining the Light and Dark Fae relations. Even if she had not found anything imminently endangering Tamsin's health. It didn't make any sense. Tamsin should be feeling much better.

Together they made their stumbling way into Tamsin's house. Even though she was tall and had to lean heavily on Lauren, the doctor could support her. Tamsin was muscular and very slender, after all. She didn't lay her arm across Lauren's shoulders, but put her hand on her back, while Lauren grasped her by the waist, just beneath her ribcage. Somehow it worked. And they only had to make a couple of steps. The door wasn't locked, either.

Somehow that didn't surprise Lauren. After all Tamsin was that kind of person no one wanted to get in trouble with, even in a large town like this. On a second thought she also considered the possibility that Tamsin probably knew of other ways of keeping intruders out as well. Especially if she stored quite valuable things in her home. That made Lauren frown. Anyways, the key was in the lock on the inside.

There Tamsin stepped away from Lauren as soon as they were in and leant against the wall, resting for a short moment.

"Lock the door" she mumbled, grimacing and massaging her knee.

Lauren frowned. "Why? Dyson wouldn't get in when he comes."

"Exactly."

Lauren paused, still undecided and hesitating.

"I don't want him to see the stæin if you remember."

Finally, Lauren obliged and turned the key. The lock clicked in a somewhat absolute sounding way.

After a minute or so Tamsin pushed herself away from the wall again and started limping to her living room. She seemed to have found some strength again. Accordingly, she didn't allow Lauren to support her again. The doctor stayed right behind her, observing her closely.

About in the middle of the room, on the opposite of the windows there hung a large mirror on the wall between two doors. The area in front of it was completely unoccupied by furniture. It was also halfway to the silver sphere, resting on its table in the back of the room.

Tamsin was just walking past that mirror, throwing a glance towards it and remarking, "Jesus, I look like crap", when she finally collapsed.

It looked like her legs just decided from one moment to the other that they were no longer going to keep her upright, and capitulated. Her knees gave way and Tamsin sprawled to the floor. She didn't even cry out in pain. She just gasped for air and rolled around to lie on her back.

Lauren rushed towards her, too late to keep her from falling. Tamsin was breathing very flatly, her chest quickly heaving up and down but apparently unable to get enough oxygen in her lungs. Her face was a mask of pain. Lauren knelt down next to her, fearing that somehow she had overlooked in her examination before that Tamsin had water in her lungs. She had not, though.

"Come on, Tamsin" she uttered while feeling for her pulse on the other side of the neck, opposite if the cut. Maybe the knife had been poisoned? The pulse was barely there and very slow. They needed help, now. As she tried to stroke a lose strand of Tamsin's hair out of the way she suddenly held the whole blonde wisp in her hand.

"Just give me the sphere" Tamsin murmured.

"Tamsin, you need to get to the hosp –"

"The _sphere_" Tamsin hissed.

Lauren jumped up again. Behind her she could hear Tamsin tearing the tapes off her skin. Lauren hastened to the table at the end of the room, for the first time looking at the sphere.

It hit her like a strong gust of wind in one of those heavy summer storms. There the sphere was, glowing, almost radiating bright blue power surges, and it was _calling_ for her. Lauren practically expected bolts of lightning. When Tamsin fell it had completely slipped her mind, but now, as she focused on the sphere again, it seemed to force its presence almost violently into her head again. Lauren could not quite catch the feeling it evoked in her. It was a mixture of an almost painful ache or longing to touch it, settling in the back of her head, and a tingling sensation in her stomach that drew her towards it. It didn't cloud her mind or slow down her thinking – at least Lauren thought so – the feeling was just there.

Like an unexpected emotion. Like meeting an old, lost friend again. Like getting a letter from your travelling parents after months without contact. Like a temporary escape turning into freedom. Like feeling rain on your skin in a scorching desert. She couldn't take her eyes off the sphere.

But still, as she stepped closer Lauren remembered clearly that Tamsin had said that the sphere could kill her if she touched it.

Tamsin seemed to read her mind. Or maybe she just heard that her footsteps hesitating. "It won't hurt you now" she said. Her voice was faint.

With every step Lauren took towards it the feeling increased. The appearance of the sphere changed as well. The swirling motions of on its silver-blue surface grew more and more agitated. They whirled so fast around it that the sphere itself seemed to change its shape as Lauren reached out for it.

Right where her finger would touch it for the first time the scintillating blue lines concentrated. The lines formed knots, turning the small spot almost white. Around it they rustled across the sphere, looking like lightning cracks on its surface. The patterns changed quicker than Lauren could watch. It looked wonderful.

Then she laid her hand on the sphere.

It felt cool and smooth and brimming underneath her fingers, like water, and sent tingling sensations running down her arm. The sphere _hummed. _It felt like it was whispering to her. She took it in both hands and lifted it up, almost expecting it to lose its shape and flow between her fingers back on the table. But it stayed firm and concrete, surprisingly light. The storm on its surface calmed down. It rested peacefully in her hands. Content. The lines spread out and turned the silver sphere completely blue.

It didn't stay that way, though. As Lauren turned around to take it to Tamsin its colour faded and gave way to a darker shade. And then, like sparks springing from a fire in a black night, golden glittering jots started appearing on it. It looked like her own fingertips gave birth to them. The specks were tiny at first and started to trail the sphere, like comet's tails in the night sky. Their speed didn't increase much, but stayed temperate and elegant. Again, Lauren couldn't detect the underlying pattern, but she was sure of its existence. If she could just watch for some time … Their dance was intriguing.

She didn't lift her eyes from it until she knelt next to Tamsin.

"What shall I do?" Lauren asked softly.

Tamsin, although looking even worse than before, watched her closely and stretched her hand out. Carefully, Lauren laid the sphere into it, holding Tamsin's hand up with her own.

Instantly the sphere changed again. Blue lines engulfed the golden sparks. But this time they didn't stay on the sphere's surface. Lauren drew in her breath sharply as the first one left its path on the sphere and reached for Tamsin's fingers. Lauren quickly withdrew her hand.

Tamsin moaned, but she had no problem with holding up her arm and the sphere. She stared at the ceiling while the line begun winding itself around her finger, then her hand. Quickly others followed until her whole hand was covered by a net of swirling blue threads. They started wandering up her arm. Three of them circled and spiralled around it until they reached her shoulder, where they split up again. One seemed to trail Tamsin's collarbone, one disappeared behind her back and the third one stayed right in between them, exploring a path on her shoulder to her neck. There it met the first red wound.

Immediately the blue thread started pulsating. And, as Lauren watched, the skin closed again. It healed, the blood vanished as well, underneath a small net of thin glowing lines. It grew towards the second cut on Tamsin's temple.

It healed this one as well, but stayed away from her face. Staring at the closing wounds Lauren noticed that Tamsin's green eyes, open and still staring at the ceiling, started to get lighter again. Beforehand they had been dim, now a spark was glowing in them again. And this fire was getting brighter with every second.

Lauren's gaze flickered back to the sphere. Almost all blue threads or lines seemed to have left it by now. It shined silver as newly polished. But while before it had not fit into Tamsin's hand and Lauren had to pick it up with both hands, it now neatly fit into Tamsin's palm. It shrunk, Lauren realized with a pang of sorrow.

The rest of the threads trailed Tamsin's body, coming to rest where they were needed. They seemed to have a special affiliation for the bloodstreams beneath her skin. Their paths seemed to follow them. Tamsin was never fully enclosed by a blue net, though.

Finally, they started to fade away again. They sunk beneath her skin with every breath she took, faintly at first, but then with increasing speed.

The last one wandered from her shoulder up her neck, around her jawline, back down to her collarbone again, following the subclavian vein, down her sternum and submerged right above her heart.

Lauren looked up to Tamsin's face again. Her eyes were closed, but a smile danced around her lips. She drew a deep breath.

Lauren stood up. "And, what was that, exactly?"

"That was good" Tamsin rendered, before sitting up. "I haven't felt so good in years."

She looked at the considerably smaller sphere in her hand. "Shame that I had to use it."

"Care to explain?" Lauren asked again, raising her eyebrows.

Now, while looking at her, Tamsin slowly got up as well. As she rose she practically paraded the complete change of herself compared to before. The exhausted, wounded version of the Fae had vanished without any trace left. Tamsin stretched her arms and legs lavishly. No bruise left on her body. Now, not standing upright again, Lauren noticed how tall she actually was. A subtle note of strength radiated from her whole posture.

The smug expression was back on her face, self-satisfied as ever. Even her blonde hair was brighter than before. Her dazzling green eyes stared fixedly at Lauren as she tilted her head to her side and started to grin. Her whole being practically yelled I am back in charge; now give me something to play with.

"This", she begun, "was actually not for your human eyes."

Lauren frowned. "You said you wanted my help with this thing." She gestured towads the silver ball in Tamsin's hand. "Obviously, you know it already. Why ask for my help, then?"

"First of all, there is a huge difference between knowing and using. But yes, I have a theory." She obviously enjoyed teasing Lauren, who was already losing her patience again. Whatever had happened to Tamsin before, on the brink of unconsciousness she had definitely been easier to cope with.

"Well?"

"Make a guess."

"Christ, Tamsin!" Lauren exclaimed, which made the Dark Fae chuckle. "Energy, isn't it? This is what this is all about. That sphere somehow draws and saves energy. You just turned the effect and used it to heal yourself." After a short pause Lauren added: "And you probably want to find out how to do that on a large scale."

"Very good, doc. Nearly right. But it doesn't save. It _is _energy. Energy in its purest form. And I am the only one that can do that, and only if I am in serious trouble. I want to change that. And to find out how to, uhm, recharge it."

Lauren frowned again, this time even more. She could deal with teasing, that was exactly why she hadn't liked Tamsin in the first place, but lying was downright infuriating. Tamsin was trying to sell her a story to shut her up and keep her from asking questions. "Pure energy. That's impossible" Lauren answered, not nearly as calm as 15 minutes ago.

Tamsin's grin broadened. "Believe me, that's family business. Don't you think what you just saw is proof enough? I thought that energy theory of yours was exactly about this. You know, there are no different forms of energy, just different ways to tunnel it, or something like that."

Suddenly Lauren felt anger swelling inside her. Who the hell did Tamsin think she was? "Don't try to lead me on. You looked like you just nearly died on me! I have no idea what you want from me, and I am going to leave right now if you don't tell me what the hell really happened."

Tamsin's eyes narrowed. "It's a form of pure energy, stored by generations of my family, and I just released it. I am serious."

Lauren glared back. "And I am losing time." Her tone was rising. "I am a scientist, Tamsin, looking at stuff like this is my job, so stop bullshitting me!"

Normally, Tamsin would have found the outburst amusing. But she did not like not being taken seriously if she was not mocking or teasing.

So, Tamsin snarled. Her voice was ice cold and dangerously low. She had just gained an immense part of her power back, and a human, worse, a human that had been _part _of that ceremony, dared to confront her.

"I am a true born Valkyrie, a chooser of the slain." Her eyes flashed and she took a step closer to Lauren, almost towering over her. Her whole appearance was one silent threat. Lauren didn't flinch, so there were only inches left between them. "Whole armies bend their knee to me in fear. I have ridden amongst raven wings above more wars than you can imagine, turning fate beneath me as I like it. I rip men apart as I like it. _I choose who lives and dies in battle. _Don't you dare to accuse me or my family of lying about _this_."

She hold the silver sphere up. It had turned black, radiantly black.

Lauren couldn't help but wince at those growled words. She had heard them before. But Tamsin's arrogant tone angered her even more than her choice of words. She was just so done with the Valkyrie. There was no way she was going to let herself be bullied by her. "I have seen wars as well. And _I _didn't fly above the soldier's heads, I was one of them. And as I know you now, I think you mean _bent_", she shot back, glaring equally angrily.

Tamsin was so taken aback that she, for the very first time in quite a long while, was utterly speechless.

Finally, completely slumped back, she said with her normal voice again. "I am finally beginning to glimpse at what that Succubus saw in you."

Lauren turned on her heels and bolted towards the door. But Tamsin was right behind her, and much faster. She slammed it shut before Lauren had the change to even raise her hand to open it further.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, okay, that was uncalled for, I apologize!"Tamsin said. "Jesus, ease up, Lauren. Even the Morrigan is less touchy than you."

That, and blocking her way, earned her another fuming glance from Lauren. But Tamsin had found her balance again, even though that apology was the most uncharacteristic thing Lauren had ever heard her say.

"I will explain what just happened, cross my heart." Tamsin said. Then she waved towards another door. "Want a beer?"

After a short discussion Lauren refused the beer but agreed to stay to listen to Tamsin's explanation. She was curious after all, she couldn't help it, even if the Valkyrie was the most troublesome person she had ever encountered. Lauren wondered how close Bo was to Tamsin.

Walking to Tamsin's bar in the kitchen Lauren called Dyson, saying that everything was fine. He didn't inquire what exactly had happened but sounded seriously mad at his partner. Lauren told Tamsin, but she just rolled her eyes while opening her beer.

"You know, that silver collar around your neck is the only thing that saved you a few minutes ago" she said easily.

"Says the barking dog who doesn't bite."

"Oh, fuck off."


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you all so much for reading and your reviews! I am so sorry that it took me so long to update the fic. **I really hope you enjoy the new chapter. I tried to explain more about the sphere, so maybe there can finally be more action in the next chapters. And then I somehow find myself strangely drawn towards the Tamsin-Lauren dynamic. Definitely more than I originally planned to but hey, I really like it. Damn characters, always doing exactly what I don't want them to.

VII

Absent-mindedly Lauren played with her silver necklace while Tamsin rummaged in the kitchen. While her mind was still circling around the events of this and the last day, Tasmin was noisily making coffee with one of those Italian stove-top espresso makers. After asking Lauren how she would like it – strong, please, which produced a grin on Tamsin's lips – she lazily opened various pots and tins, fiddled with them and their content, before finally igniting the gas stove with a quickly kindled match. Meanwhile she rambled much about nothing, mainly complaining about the coffee she got at the police station. Soon after the first flames started to lick at the bottom of the steel pot, it whistled loudly. Tamsin poured the coffee with a dash of milk into a big mug. Its aroma of freshly roasted beans started to fill the room.

Lauren sighed, dropped the necklace again and, not knowing what to do with her hands, brushed her hair behind her ear. Tamsin came over from the kitchen counter, placed the coffee in front of her and returned to the fridge.

Steam was rising from the beige mug. Lauren thanked Tamsin before she eagerly wrapped her fingers around it, held it close to her face and inhaled. It smelled wonderful.

She was sitting in Tamsin's kitchen at the large rectangular table. While Tamsin was making their drinks – although it was not _that _late she did choose a beer from the fridge for herself – Lauren's eyes wandered through the room. She attempted to find out more about the person who lived here by studying it carefully. That was what she was good at, after all. Analyzing.

Surprisingly, the room contrasted with the one they had been in before. The kitchen itself, a couple of feet away from the sitting area, was mainly chrome as well, but wood dominated the rest of the room, like the large oak dining table. Or maybe walnut. Lauren wasn't sure. There was only one window, at the far end of the room. But still, dim afternoon sunlight streamed through it and illuminated the patterns on the somewhat battered looking parquet floor. Sometimes it creaked when Tamsin moved.

Lauren was beginning to suspect that Tamsin had bought the whole place already decorated and furnished by a professional interior designer. But neither here nor in the living room were any pictures on the wall. No used dishes. Not even paper for grocery lists, or calendars. Although the kitchen had a completely different style, it still didn't look like someone actually lived here.

Tamsin sat down opposite of her, with a beer in her hand. Suddenly her face was again turned towards Lauren. When she had been standing at the stove Lauren had only been able to see her back. Her attention had not been focused on Lauren. Now Tamsin opened her beer swiftly and took a sip, while playing with the bottle cap. The lamp above the table hung so low that the ring of light emitting from it didn't reach their eyes unless they leaned forward, which Lauren did, but not Tamsin. While the other sources of light helped to pour a calming warmth into the atmosphere of the place, Lauren couldn't help but notice coolness streaming from the Fae. The look on her face increased that feeling. Her green eyes glistened in the half-shadow. They were not even once averted from her guest. Lauren was reminded of a cat, patiently eyeing its prey. Suddenly she felt very uncomfortable again. To conceal it she looked away and drank from her coffee.

There was another thing that added to Tamsin's impressing appearance. Though that what the sphere had done to Tamsin had miraculously caused the blood on the side of her head to disappear, and – as Lauren hadn't failed to notice – to give her hair its striking lightness back, there were still large red stains on her otherwise white shirt. Tamsin didn't seem to mind the blood, though.

Lauren chose that topic first. Without further courtesies she asked "What happened at the docks?"

Tamsin tilted her head and smirked. "Dyson told you already. I got attacked by those bastards. I hope they are still in custody, I want to settle that score."

Internally, Lauren sighed again. She thought that would have been the easiest question to start with. By now she could tell by the way Tamsin looked at her that the Fae was holding something back. On the one hand Tamsin's sneering mask worked only so far, and they were discussing serious topics even Tamsin had trouble joking about, and on the other hand, in the last years Lauren had learned how to read people. So, instead of talking back again, she just lifted her eyebrows and waited.

Tamsin hold her gaze.

It was not so much that she didn't want to talk about it, Lauren could sense that, she was just not giving away any information easily. It was annoying.

The silence stretched, but both women seemed to be determined to get the other one to talk first. For Tamsin it was developing into a teasing game again. She enjoyed it. Slowly, a smug grin begun spreading on her face.

Finally, Lauren gave in. "Tamsin, please. It was more than that. They weren't connected to your case."

"Fine. You are right." Tamsin hesitated, took another sip and continued. "There were two more. I didn't manage to take them out as well, they fled, apparently. They must have been following me for some time and waiting for their opportunity to catch me alone." She hesitated even more and looked at the table while saying this. "What do you want to know about them?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe why they nearly killed you?"

"Come on, Doc." Tamsin almost drawled. "They were nowhere near that. It just cost me a little more strength than usual."

Lauren banged the coffee mug back on the table. "You were nearly unconscious! It looked like you were bleeding to death without any external blood loss." She raised her hands in dismay over her inability to explain what she had watched. She could rattle off every single symptom Tamsin had shown, but combined they made no sense whatsoever. The link was missing. "And- And I even held two strands of your hair in my hand! What does that?"

Suddenly Tamsin's head snapped back up. She narrowed her eyes. A note of tension crept back into her voice and she leaned forward. "You did what?"

Lauren held her stare and answered calmly, trying not to cross Tamsin for whatever obscure reason she was now getting angry about, "I have no idea. That's why I want you to tell me."

Tamsin sighed and slumped back in her chair again. Her anger left as swiftly as it had come. Now she sounded bored. "Okay. I guess then it was worse than I imagined. I was already very near the end of my life circle, and getting the sphere out of Norway was… expensive."

"Life circle?"

"I am a Valkyrie, Lauren." Tamsin replied, now equally quietly. "I have powers unlike everything you have ever encountered." She added a wide grin to her flashing eyes, which made the statement considerably less threatening and unpleasantly provoking.

Lauren leaned back. She watched Tamsin attentively. They were finally getting somewhere. "I am listening."

"You know already where I got the stæin from. And you saw what it can do. Which is nothing to boast about, by the way, we once had the nasty habit to burn every human involved in that ceremony. Although strangely as it was it actually seemed to be a big thing for them."

Lauren frowned, thinking that Tamsin was joking again, but restrained herself and asked "We?"

Tamsin just waved nonchalantly with her hand and looked away. "You know, Nordic Fae. Sea burials. One of those long, boring stories."

Now Lauren had to smile a little about Tamsin's gesture of casual indifference at something that seemed not quite so little to Lauren. "Says who?"

Lauren's stomach chose that moment to grumble, quite loudly. The coffee had not filled it, on the contrary. She moaned in annoyance but Tamsin laughed. "I am a bad host, I admit. You didn't have lunch, did you? How about a sandwich?"

Lauren looked up and shook her head. The coffee had been nice, she had to admit that, but then she had definitely not planned to stay this long at Tamsin's place. The mess at her lab had to be cleaned up. And explained. Hale was probably furious by now. There were about 14 different laws preventing Dark Fae from just looking at the compound. They had breached a hundred more when Dyson brought Tamsin in and Lauren treated her. And then there were samples she had tested. Their outcome should be clear by now and she wanted to check them immediately. They were Bo's, after all.

"Could you please stop making excuses, and start talking?"

"Oh my god, Lauren, calm down. Do you know that this is actually the first time someone else actually sits in my kitchen in this house? You could really let me cherish the moment!"

"_Tamsin!_" Lauren found their conversation not nearly half as funny as Tamsin. She ignored the Fae's remark, but stored it in her memory, to think about its implications later. She knew virtually nothing about the Dark Fae, neither about as a person nor about her Fae abilities. There was a lot of research lying ahead of Lauren, at least on the Fae aspect.

Tamsin almost ignored the refusal. "Maybe later then." She smirked and took a deep breath. Her ease faded as they returned to the topic they were actually handling. "Back to the stæin. Or sphere. However you want to call it. The point is, whoever sent those jerks after me wants the stone back. Remember what I told you about Lofoten? I think that's what it can do as well. Keeping Fae away, protection from them."

A feeling of uneasiness started to settle in Lauren's stomach. She really had no idea what she was dealing with. It made her frown.

Although her eyes were still focused on her guest, Tamsin continued without a pause. "I want to use it for that. And you" - here she pointed with one long finger at Lauren - "have to find out how to do that." After she said that she watched Lauren even more closely, taking another sip from her beer. Tamsin swallowed and looked straight into Lauren's eyes. She was expecting a bad reaction.

Lauren's face dropped. Now she understood. That was it. That was what Tamsin wanted. Tamsin wanted to use the sphere for her own, private purposes. A weapon. Lauren was slowly beginning to see the bigger picture, and she didn't like it. At all.

Real anger started to boil in her chest, while ice filled her stomach. Tamsin _had _been playing a game all along. Lauren should have never agreed to help her. That Tamsin pursued only her own interests had been pretty clear. Nothing, _nothing _at all, had ever indicated something else. Her manipulations had led to the final torn straw that had forced Lauren to break up with Bo. And then she had the nerve to draw Lauren into this mess. Despite the fact that Lauren was aligned to the Light Fae, despite the fact that she was Dyson's partner and involved in that crazy Light-Dark-friendship project, and Lauren even allowed herself to think despite Bo, Tamsin dared to try to use Lauren.

Nevertheless, she had allowed herself to be deceived by Tamsin. Lauren was responsible, she could have said no right away. She felt sick. Why seemed all her decisions to be so bad lately? Lauren had a hard time concealing her increasing anger, but she swallowed and asked through clenched teeth "You want me to help you, a Dark Fae, to keep your enemies from Norway at bay? _After all you have done?_"

Tamsin studied her expression thoughtfully. For once, she wasn't grinning. Her eyebrows came slightly together. It made Lauren even more furious. Tamsin didn't even try to explain. She just watched Lauren struggle.

"You spoke of Bo's safety!" Lauren exploded, stressing the last word. She jumped up. The sudden movement sent the chair behind her flying to the floor with a banging noise. "That is the only reason I am here! And now you tell me this has been all for your own aims? How selfish _are_ you?"

While saying this, her voice was harsh and accusing. Instead of giving way she leant forward and placed both hands firmly on the table, glaring down on Tamsin.

The Fae stayed completely calm, though, still watching Lauren intensely, from below. She was still sitting in her chair and speaking very clearly. "He is not after me."

"What?"

"The Ancient Fae that sent those jerks after me" Tamsin explained patiently. "He's after Bo. And I think the sphere is the only chance we've got."

Lauren took a deep breath. Suddenly she felt the urge to slap Tamsin again.

"Why on earth should I believe you?"

Tamsin looked away, placed her bottle on the table in front of her and eventually found Lauren's eyes again.

"Because of the sphere. You saw it. You felt it. You've felt it when you healed me. It's and instrument. Its sole purpose is protecting me and what I want it to protect and shield. So it didn't harm you when you touched it. It could have killed you just as easily, absorbing all your energy and powers."

It sounded ridiculous. Plainly and utterly absurd. But as Lauren recalled what had happened she couldn't help but feel again what she had felt the first time she had seen the sphere today. They had left it behind in the adjoining room, resting on that small, round table. Not anywhere near to her now. But still, the feeling settled again in her stomach. Or at least a faint echo of it. The sphere had shrunk after all. It did feel like it was calling, or had called, asking her to bring the sphere to Tamsin. It was Fae after all.

Lauren straightened herself and crossed her arms in front of her. She didn't care about the way the sphere was connected to Tamsin, or what she could do with it. She had absolutely no proof whatsoever. Tamsin was spinning her story and probably turned every little detail to her favour. If Lauren hadn't been so furious the amount of efforts at persuading the Fae displayed would have puzzled her.

But Lauren was not going to help her creating some sort of powerful weapon against other Fae. Who the hell did Tamsin think she was?

Now Tamsin stood up as well, grimacing. "Honestly Lauren, do you think I would show you the stæin if there wasn't something seriously wrong?! It's an heirloom of immense worth and powers! Do you have any ideas how much laws and rules I broke when I even mentioned it to you? And then you _touched_ it!"

Lauren winced. Tamsin practically spat the word, as if it was the highest sacrilege imaginable.

But Tamsin didn't seem to address Lauren in that particular moment. It was more like her own actions outraged her.

She threw her hands up. "I can't explain why he wants Bo. But he does. I know it." She swallowed and shifted from uneasily from one leg to the other. "He has proven it, believe me."

While Tamsin spoke Lauren tried to concentrate. She was convinced that Tamsin talked complete nonsense. It fitted too well into the frame that for some unknown reason the identity of the big enemy had to stay concealed. Lauren had learnt her lesson. She didn't trust Tamsin a single inch.

But she didn't want to deny it without listening to the whole story either. If Tamsin really just wanted to use her she wouldn't have put her story that way. Later on, when she was finally at home again, Lauren would think again of that moment and figure out that this was probably caused by the sphere as well. It didn't persuade her to stay and listen, not at all. But it gave her patience and calmness, somehow.

She was not so sure, however, that, if Tamsin was right, the sphere could only influence her when Tamsin really needed help. And what that meant.

After a short pause the Dark Fae continued.

"What happened today is not going to happen again. Traveling all the way up to my old home, finding it and escaping with it took a lot of my strength. But I recovered today. Sadly, that took a lot of energy from the sphere. But I should manage now for some time. All I need is finding out how to extend its powers. I can't control it unless I am in serious danger. And it's definitely not keeping any Fae away at the moment. But if we want to fight the Fae that is coming, we will need it. And I am afraid I can only rely on people who want Bo to be truly safe. So I need your help."

Lauren studied her for a long moment. 'Took a lot of my strength' was an understatement. Tamsin had been in a bad shape.

"At first I want to talk to those two Fae you took out at the warehouse. I want to hear their story. If they tell the same one, and only then, we can talk further about this. I am not saying I will help you. And you will have to tell me who exactly is trying to attack Bo. And why she can't take care of that herself."

At first Tamsin narrowed her eyes. "I am not negotiating with you."

But after a short pause she added "The first point is okay. I can take you there now, if you want to. But people will ask questions. You are a doctor, not an officer."

"Not my problem. You will have to deal with that. It is my first condition."

Tamsin nodded.

Now Lauren hesitated. "And I want to take the stæin with me. To my place."

For a split second Tamsin stared at her in disbelief. Then she crossed her arms as well and tilted her head. Her green eyes were flashing dangerously again. But a smirk played on her lips again as she stepped around the table towards Lauren. "You have no idea what you are messing with, Doc."

She sauntered past her, making a point of getting unnecessary close, as Lauren didn't step out of her way. The human tried to stay exactly where she was, not even moving one inch. Once again Lauren noticed how tall Tamsin was. When she was just at her shoulder she looked down on Lauren, who in turn made a point of staring right ahead and not at the Fae, and said "I will have to change."

As Tamsin left the room and went upstairs - Lauren could hear her footsteps - the doctor sat down again. She didn't mind that her coffee was already cold. But she shouldn't have refused that sandwich.

Lauren drove them in her car, since Tamsin's truck was still at that warehouse in the Docks. The stæin rested in a platinic box on the back seat.

They spent most of the way in silence again. Until Tamsin, fidgeting about, figured out how to open the glove box and found Lauren's portable sampler with filled purification cartridges. Lauren threw an angry glance towards her. She told her, quite firmly, to put them back right now, what Tamsin pointedly ignored and, instead, hold one of them up against the light. They contained Ifrit blood, or maybe Quareen, Lauren wasn't sure, which was why she kept them there. She wanted to hand them to a colleague, or at least fellow scientist, for examination and a second opinion on its nitrogen concentration.

When Lauren finally said what it was, to get her to finally lay them back into their compartment, Tamsin almost dropped it. With a disgusted "Ugh" she practically threw them into the glove box and slammed it shut. Lauren on the other hand was horrified and feared that the cartridge had been cracked by Tamsin's careless behaviour. Tamsin breaking her things was the last thing she wanted right now.

Thus, she was completely focused on her co driver and overlooked a car in front of her. Tamsin reached over in the last second and jerked the steering wheel violently to her side. They avoided a crash by an inch.

"You really need a Doonie in your car," Tamsin remarked dryly when they were back on the road to the police station and she had made certain that nothing had happened to her sphere. Lauren rolled her eyes.

"Do you know how much those samples are worth? And besides, Doonies are just for telling you the route. I'm not dependent on road Fae for directions."

"I am so not trusting you with my things."

They arrived minutes later, just to see Bo's car parked next to Dyson's.


	8. Chapter 8

Long chapter again, but my absolute favorite so far. I hope you enjoy it!

VIII

Tamsin sneaked Lauren in as medical examiner. She told her to wait at her desk and Lauren sat down obediently, crossed her legs and watched Tamsin strut away through the bureau. Her waving blond hair spilled down her back. Lauren could picture her face vividly as the other police officers moved to make her way. Then she started looking around for a sign of Dyson. Or Bo.

Although the police station was brimming with activity, she didn't catch sight of them. While Tamsin was away Lauren watched officers scurrying around, bellowing in their phones or angrily typing on their keyboards. Phones shrilled constantly. No one paid the slightest attention to Lauren. She was tempted to take a closer look at the documents on Tamsin's desk.

But the Valkyrie was back before Lauren could bring herself to do so. Tamsin had a small white cardboard box under her arm, a black handgun on her hip and a visitor pass in her hand. She tossed the identification badge at Lauren, who had to catch it with both hands. It showed a registration number, Lauren's name and a picture of her, the same one as on her ID card. Lauren didn't even ask where Tamsin had gotten it from or how she had managed to get the pass so quickly.

"Keep it." Tamsin said smugly, apparently very pleased with herself, while Lauren looked at it. "Maybe you will need it again."

There was a red band attached to it so Lauren could wear it around her neck. It dangled in front of her chest, depicting that she had entrance to every room in the building.

Tamsin didn't walk around her desk but leaned against it next to Lauren's chair, where she opened the cardboard box. While doing so Lauren's eyes lingered for a moment on the SIG Sauer on Tamsin's hip, right in front of her. The holster was attached to a black belt which ran crookedly and loosely around Tamsin's waist. Silver handcuffs were also sticking out of it. Tamsin must have kept the belt in her locker and put it on for the interrogation. Now she noticed Lauren's brief glimpse. It conjured a smirk on her lips. She shifted her weight swiftly to the other leg, so the gun was even more protruding. Lauren felt caught in the act of staring. To avoid Tamsin's grin her eyes flickered quickly to what Tamsin was holding in her hands.

That box was rather distracting. It contained four perfect, mouth-watering blueberry muffins. Tamsin helped herself before offering them to Lauren. Lauren took one as well, gratefully since she had – due to Tamsin – not eaten for lunch and her breakfast had not been worth mentioning. But she raised one eyebrow at the Valkyrie questioningly.

"I borrowed them." Tamsin shrugged. "The constable doesn't mind," she mumbled around the piece of muffin in her mouth she had just nibbled off. Her eyes were glinting with amusement.

The phone on her desk started ringing. She sighed and, without so much as looking at it, cradled the phone between her head and shoulder, while continuing to tear pieces of her muffin and sticking them into her mouth.

"Yes?"

Lauren followed the half of the conversation she could hear attentively. It was very little. Lauren supposed that it was someone telling the homicide detective that she could start her interrogation. She was right. Tamsin tried to keep it short. She rolled her eyes and uttered either "Yes," or a bored "Mhm."

After a minute or two, just as Lauren had hastily finished her late lunch, Tamsin banged the receiver back on the telephone. "Alright, Doc, let's play good cop bad cop, shall we?"

Lauren didn't reply but stood up, eager to finally do something, to find out more. It was important to her. She wanted to know if these guys were really hunting for the sphere. If Lauren knew why the sphere was so valuable, and who wanted it, then she would know more about that 'danger' lurking for Bo. Who or what threatened her.

At least that was what Lauren thought. She just needed more information. And Tamsin was definitely not a very reliable source.

Suddenly her eyes were on the same height as Tamsin's, as the Valkyrie was still leaning backwards, almost sitting on her desk. And she was closer than Lauren had thought. Tamsin didn't shift, though, or tilt her head, or smile smugly. She just kept her green eyes fixed on the doctor. Lauren was near enough to see how the light falling into her eyes let the hazel rings around her pupils shine like molten gold. It was impossible to determine was Tamsin was thinking in that moment. It left Lauren taken aback and bewildered. She guessed she could identify genuine curiosity in Tamsin's eyes. But then again she was aware how little she actually knew about her. How bad she was at reading her. Tamsin was constantly entrenching herself behind a giant wall of insults and smirks and teasing. A thousand different layers were hidden behind that, and Lauren sensed their presence, but knew virtually none of them. The only time she had seen her vulnerable had been the brief moments before she handed the sphere to her.

Or maybe it was a strange kind of sadness within her green eyes.

"You are here because of the succubus, aren't you?" the Valkyrie asked softly.

Lauren didn't answer. She stared frostily at the Fae. How often did she have to make clear that they were not going to talk about Bo?

Tamsin went past her. Lauren didn't see it, but she could swear that for a split second Tamsin's fingers had lingered on her sleeve, before Lauren turned around to follow her.

"Don't look so worried, Doc. What could go wrong?" There the old Tamsin resurfaced.

The dark Fae explained shortly what would happen. They would, within the investigation of their 'case', talk to one of the blokes that Tamsin had taken out before. Dyson was currently interrogating the other one. Tamsin would ask her questions first, why he had been at the warehouse and so forth. She warned Lauren that it was idiotic to think that he would tell them voluntarily why he was really here, but Lauren could try, if she wanted to waste her time with that.

Instead, Tamsin would use her powers. Lauren swallowed.

They arrived at the interrogation room. Tamsin opened the door and stepped through it first. Lauren followed close behind, but didn't sit down. She stayed standing in front of the closed door and refrained herself to watching.

The suspect was sitting at the table and refused to say one word. They knew from the file that he had not opened his mouth since Dyson and the backup he had called had taken him into custody. They didn't even know his name, not to mention what kind of Fae he was. Naturally, Light as well as Dark denied any connections to the two of them. It was hopeless.

The guy was of average height, had long brown hair that hid much of his face, a three-day stubble, and wore a shabby black leather jacket. Lauren estimated that he was in his late twenties. Although his shoulders were broad and he seemed quite muscular, he looked small and lost. His hands, bound by handcuffs, rested on the table in front of him. He didn't move. Apart from his looks there was nothing sinister about him. He just kept his mouth closed and stared at his hands.

Lauren had thought that he would be surprised by Tamsin's sudden recovery. After all, they had managed to hurt her seriously. But he didn't even look up when they entered the room.

"Listen, things are going to get unpleasant for you. Very much." Tamsin didn't bother to stick to the protocol. The voice recorder normally used during talks like this stayed switched off. Instead, she threatened him right away. He didn't react, even though she made pretty clear what she would do to him if he didn't start talking about what he had been doing at the warehouse.

In that moment Lauren heard a noise from behind her back. She turned around. Through the blinds in front of the glass window in the door she could see into the hallway. For a split second she glimpsed at Dyson with the other guy in custody walking past. That one looked almost exactly like the man Tamsin was currently snarling at. As Lauren looked at him he raised his head and glanced past her, towards his friend.

Then all hell broke loose.

Lauren heard Tamsin yell angrily. She whirled back around to see her leaping backwards. The guy had jumped up and flipped the table at Tamsin. Her chair clattered to the floor. She raised her hands to block the table from flying into her. While she was occupied by that Lauren saw how the other Fae got rid of his handcuffs. He just tore them apart like elastic bands wrapped around his wrists. Silver chain links scattered to the floor with ringing noises. His face was savage. He growled at the Valkyrie.

Tamsin grabbed the edge of the table with one hand and hurled it out of the way. With the other hand she tried to pull her gun. But she wasn't quick enough. She managed to release the safety catch of the holster with one finger. Then the guy was already at her. He sprinted forward and wrapped his hands around Tamsin's throat. Without stopping his movement forward he lifted her off her feet. Her fingernails scratched across his arms. Horrified, Lauren jumped out of the way as they flew past her. He slammed Tamsin into the wall exactly where Lauren had been standing one second ago. Lauren could see Tamsin baring her teeth at him.

Their fighting noises were echoed by another heavy struggle in front of the door. The other Fae had attacked Dyson as well.

Lauren wanted to help, to fight, to _do something_, but everything happened so quickly.

The Fae tried to bang Tamsin's head repeatedly against the wall. During on if those movements she managed to pull her knees towards her chest. She brought her legs between herself and her opponent. With one fierce kick she sent him flying into the opposite direction, yelping with pain. Instead of catching her breath she was right behind him. Before he had the chance to regain his balance her fists hit him hard in the side and on the temple. He sprawled to the floor, rolled around and tried to get up.

He was still crouching when he lunged at her again. He tried to get her around the waist. But this time Tamsin was faster. She whirled around him. He jumped up and hurled his fist at her. She dodged the blow. With her back towards her Lauren could not see what she was doing exactly. But Lauren was sure that she started to use her powers on him. A hushed whisper begun stirring in the air. It rustled through the room like a breeze of cold wind.

He slumped away from her. The fuming grimace on his face gave way to a more painful expression. He squinted and raised his hands to his temples. Tamsin approached him slowly. He crouched away from her and covered his ears with his hands. He even cried out. She tilted her head and bent forward.

At that instant the door flew open with a crashing noise. For a heartbeat Lauren expected police backup. But only the second Fae rushed in, blood scattered across his chin. His nose was broken, but he didn't seem to mind. His vicious eyes were fixed on Tamsin's back. He was closely followed by Dyson. Both of them moved with incredible speed. But before the shapeshifter could hinder him he reached the Valkyrie. She had not noticed him.

"Tamsin!" Lauren shouted.

By then, he had already grabbed the Valkyrie by the shoulders. He threw her through the room like a doll. She crashed into the wall next to Lauren and slid to the floor, breathing heavily. Lauren hasted to her side. Dyson flung himself at the Fae. They collided like two boulders in an avalanche.

Growling from the depths of his throat, Dyson broke through his defence like it was nothing. The other Fae attempted to kick him in the side. The shapeshifter practically wiped his leg away. His fists stroke the other Fae's chin and stomach. He doubled over. Dyson's knee in his face brought him back up again. Then Dyson seized the opportunity to hit him in the throat. He flew back, choking.

But he was not giving up, not even nearly. And his friend was also getting to his feet again. Standing next to each other, with the same threatening expression on their faces, the looked like twins. They charged together.

Dyson expected the attack. He was prepared. But both of them were too much for him.

Next to Lauren, Tamsin was struggling to rise again. She and Lauren stood up.

The rage on Tamsin's face was frightening. Her flashing green eyes were even brighter than usual, burning with fury. She bared her teeth again and hissed.

Before she could help him they covered Dyson with punches. He held his hands up in defence and even attempted to strike back, when one of them grabbed his head and banged it brutally against the wall. Lauren could hear an ugly cracking sound. Dyson fell to the floor. Then the two turned simultaneously to Tamsin.

She stretched her hand out in front of Lauren. Her fingers gripped Lauren's wrist tightly and shoved her behind her back, not once letting go of her, while her eyes were fixed on the other Fae.

"You don't want to do this." Lauren had never heard her speak like this before, even when they had been arguing. Her voice was one icy, venom dripping threat. "I will rip you apart."

"Try," one of them answered. His voice was harsh and thick with accent. They didn't pay the slightest attention to the human but were focused on the Valkyrie. They approached her more carefully than they had attacked Dyson.

Tamsin shoved Lauren further backwards. Suddenly, Lauren's heels kicked against something. It was Tamsin's handgun, lying in next to her on the floor. It must have fallen out of her holster when she had been hurled against the wall. Without thinking, Lauren bent down and grabbed it. The black metal felt cold in her hands, and heavy.

She aimed.

Everything slowed down. She raised the gun past Tamsin's shoulder, not too close to her ear. She didn't want to render her deaf. Lauren couldn't hear anything through the sudden noise that filled her ears. It numbed her like she was wading through cotton. Pulling the trigger was easier than she had imagined. The recoil was minimal. The spent cartridge was ejected. It fell to the floor and clattered away, the only sound Lauren was able to discern clearly in the madness that erupted.

The shot ringed in her ears for days afterwards.

She hit the Fae on the right in the chest, right beneath the collarbone. His face was branded into her memory. He looked confused at first, before his face went blank at the sight of the red blood wetting his jacket. He staggered backwards, clutching his shoulder. Blood emerged from between his fingers. But Lauren was more distracted by his friend. That one howled in agony.

He lost all caution and lunged at Lauren. His face was a mask of pain and fury and hatred, plainly raging in his bloodshot eyes. In a flash Tamsin pulled her aside. She whirled Lauren around, bringing herself between him and the human. Her fingers dug deeply into Lauren's skin. Lauren staggered. Without Tamsin steadying her, Lauren would have fallen to the ground. With the other hand Tamsin grabbed the chair, still lying on the floor where her leap had left it, and hurled it towards the roaring attacker. It caught him off balance. He couldn't bring his hands up to repel it. So he ducked. It flew past him, inches above his head.

It slowed him down a bit. Tamsin shoved Lauren further aside. But he was already nearly within arm's reach.

And then, out of nowhere, Bo appeared.

She moved with incredible speed and accuracy, without the slightest bit of uncertainty or even sound. For a brief moment Lauren saw her face. She looked thrilled, hunting for prey. Her face was blank, not giving away any emotion but concentration on her target.

Before anyone could react she was above the attacking Fae. She came from the side. He saw her out of the corner of his eyes. By then it was already to late for him. Bo grabbed him by the collar and bend forward. He looked into her bright blue eyes and opened his mouth slightly, as if he was catching his breath. He had no chance. The Chi started flowing from his lips in an instant. The succubus sucked him dry without the slightest bit of effort.

His Chi left him swiftly. When it was gone his eyes fluttered and closed. He sank to the ground as Bo released him. When she looked up again, her eyes brimming with blue, the second Fae was gone. He had managed to flee through the window, before anyone could reach him, leaving a trail of red blood stains. The succubus blinked as the colour started fading from her eyes. Dyson stirred on the ground and moaned.

Tamsin's hand dropped from Lauren's wrist.

"We were managing quite well on our own, but thanks for the help anyway."

"Didn't look like it," Bo replied and stepped past her towards Lauren. "Are you alright?"

Lauren nodded. Bo stretched out her hand. "Give me the gun, please," she said gently. Lauren looked down. She had completely forgotten about it when the succubus stormed in.

"Everything is fine. You can let go of it now." Bo's voice was soothing. Her eyes were brown and kind again. She took Lauren's hand and loosened her fingers, which were still tightly wrapped around the metal handle. She tossed the gun at Tamsin and drew the doctor into a tight hug.

Lauren hugged her back. She inhaled her warmth and felt herself coming back together.

Bo wrapped her arms around her and murmured into her neck "I am so glad nothing happened to you."

Finally, Lauren found her voice again. "I'm okay, really. No need to worry."

"Yeah, thanks for saving the day," Tamsin snapped. It was not clear to Lauren whom she meant.

Lauren drew back from Bo again. Bo's warm hand stayed on her upper arm. It helped to calm her. "Did I hurt him seriously?" She asked.

"No. It takes more than a bullet to finish a Berserk." Tamsin replied while picking up the cartridge.

"A _Berserk?!"_ Dyson exclaimed from the floor. "Are you shitting me?" He hastily retreated from the Fae lying on the floor in front of him.

Tamsin chuckled and helped him up. "You just survived two of them. Congratulations, not many can say that."

"You could have warned us!"

"It was not really clear to me either, until they burst their steel handcuffs like plastic toys." She hesitated shortly, before smirking. "And this morning I fought against _four_ of them. Wow." The realization sparked a new wave of smug arrogance in her voice and behaviour.

She stepped towards the remaining Berserk and tried to feel his pulse. She didn't find it, though. "Great, Bo, and you just killed one." Her assertion dripped with sarcasm. "I wanted him to _talk._"

Lauren looked up. She went towards the Fae as well. At first he seemed unconscious, but Tamsin was right. The succubus had been thorough, not leaving any Chi behind.

"Sorry," Bo gave back, "To me it looked like talking was not exactly what he had in mind."

"His friends will be pissed. And we have a body in our police station. How exactly are we going to cover this up?"

"Don't worry," Dyson jumped in. "It's okay. I got this." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started dialling while the three women left the interrogation room. Police officers were standing in the hallway, staring at them. Lauren closed the door firmly behind her while Tamsin snapped at them. Hastily, most of them retreated back to work.

"The second Berserk will be miles away, by now," Tamsin muttered angrily to herself. "And they are stronger in packs. His brothers will be waiting for him." She picked her phone out of her pocket as well, strolling away from the other two women.

Bo seized the opportunity. She pulled Lauren aside, murmuring with a husky voice "You looked hot with that gun in there." Her lips brushed lightly against Lauren's ear, causing a jolt of electricity running down her spine. Her quickened breath tickled down Bo's neck. Bo relished in the effect she still had on the woman.

Evoked by their closeness, Lauren felt a peak of desire rush through her. She longed for the warmth she had found in Bo's arms, and the things she had done to her. A small voice in the back of her warned her that the fed succubus could feel and play with her arousal. But she pushed it aside, focusing on her attempts not to think about Bo's tongue too much. In vain, as Bo smiled and Lauren couldn't keep her eyes from glancing at her lips.

Lauren maintained her composure by drawing back a couple of inches. But she had to chuckle at Bo's words. "That is not what you usually hear when you just tried to shoot someone."

"How about you tell me what you want to hear over a nice bottle of wine?"

"Bo..." Lauren's voice faded away. She looked down and rubbed her wrist. "I just don't think that it would be a good idea."

Bo's dark eyes found hers again. "Too soon? I am sorry." She paused shortly, putting a loose strand of Lauren's hair back behind her ear. "I have to go home now. Actually, I just wanted to give Dyson information on a suspect. I promised Kenzi a ladies night out today." She smiled. "I could talk to her. I'm sure she would have nothing against it if you joined us …?"

Lauren smiled back but shook her head. "I think it will be better if I get home as well. I just want to sleep."

"Oh, of course, I understand. But promise to call me!"

"I will."

With that, Bo gave her one last look to make certain that she was alright, and said goodbye. After she was through the door Tamsin approached Lauren again and smirked. "Sorry, it's not yet after-hours for you. You have to drive me to that damn warehouse again. I need my truck."

Lauren turned around to face her. "First of all, I don't _have_ to do anything. I don't take your orders. Secondly, your sphere is still in my car."

Tamsin raised her eyebrows.

She did drive Tamsin in the end. But it took them quite some time. While the evening arrived a light drizzle had started. On their way to the docks the gentle drumming of rain against the windows turned into a heavy downpour. That and the windscreen wipers were the only sounds in their car on the whole drive.

At the warehouse Tamsin jumped out of the car without a word. Lauren's eyes followed her as she lifted her leather jacket above her head against the rain and hastened trough the darkness to her car. Lauren rubbed her wrist absent-mindedly. The four crescent-shaped marks on her skin left by Tamsin's fingernails didn't hurt, though, not at all. Instead, Lauren could still feel the slender hand wrapped around her wrist. She headed straight home after seeing Tamsin getting into her car.

But the headlights of Tamsin's truck didn't leave her rear-view mirror, not even once. When she parked in front of her house and Tamsin stopped right behind her, Lauren sighed heavily.

"You are not getting rid of me so easily, Doc," Tamsin shouted through the pouring rain as Lauren left her car. She had the stæin within the platinic box under her arm. "If you want to keep the sphere you will have to endure me guarding it." Tamsin stepped closer. Again, Lauren read amusement in her eyes. "There are three Berserks looking for it, after all."

Lauren didn't even bother to protest. If Tamsin set her mind on something there was no point in arguing. She just rolled her eyes and let her into her home.

...

While Lauren had gone upstairs to take a shower, Tamsin had raided her fridge and made herself dinner – repayment for what she called lunch. Then Tamsin had proceeded to occupy the couch and the TV while Lauren had rummaged in the kitchen herself.

Now they were both sitting on Lauren's couch, their stomachs filled, the sphere resting in front of them on a small table and, barely audible, humming contently. Both of them were holding glasses filled with red wine. Tamsin had somehow persuaded Lauren to open a bottle of Bordeaux. They had fought Berserks today, after all. But after her first glass she had opened herself a bottle of beer, instead. That had provoked an enthusiastic discussion about the taste and pro and cons of wine, beer, and mixing. A smile had crept on Lauren's face.

However, they were _not_ getting drunk together, as Lauren kept reminding herself. Absolutely not.

Tamsin sprawled on the couch.

Then the subject changed to the Berserks. Lauren asked who they were and where they came from. Of course she had heard the term berserk before, but not in Fae relations. Tamsin didn't bother to explain much. "Why don't you look them up in your clever books, Doc?"

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Why is it that it's so hard for you to talk like an adult?"

Tamsin grinned at her. "It's just that I get the strangest feeling that you trust your books more than me. Or maybe it's a Light-Dark thing. You seem to like your Light friends a lot."

Maybe encouraged by the wine, she attempted to get Lauren to talk about Bo. She joked and teased and mocked, never mentioning the succubus directly, but Lauren got her hints. She evaded every question.

„What about you?" Lauren changed her tactic from defensive to offensive. "You seem so interested in my private life but you talk never about yours. I'm really beginning to think that it's quite dull," she wondered, crossing her legs underneath her.

"What? No! I just don't want to frighten you away, Doc." Tamsin returned the banter.

"Do you have a boyfriend? You never mention anyone."

"Men tend to cramp my style far too much for my taste." Tamsin smirked.

Lauren took a sip from her wine and looked at Tamsin across the rim of the glass. "A girlfriend then?"

"Do I look domestic to you?"

"I never thought Dark Fae would be this boring," Lauren complained playfully. Her finger traced the rim of her glass.

"Boring?!" Tamsin enjoyed herself tremendously. She drank from her bottle and didn't avert her eyes from Lauren's. Then she bent forward towards Lauren. Her smile was as sly as her next remark was suggestive. "I don't take anyone home with me, if you get my vibe. Just because you only hear me talking English that doesn't mean I'm not bilingual."

"Sounds more like ambidexterity to me." Lauren murmured dryly under her breath.

Tamsin choked on her beer. She coughed for a long moment and Lauren was beginning to think about hitting her on the back to help her catch her breath again. Then Tamsin erupted in laughter. It bubbled out of her like fizzing champagne.

"Jesus, Lauren, I am not a _guy_! I'm not Dyson!"

She laid her head back and laughed until the sounds rippled across the surface of the sphere. It was contagious. Lauren couldn't help but join in. She cracked up and gurgled with laughter until both of them were breathless. Lauren had even to put away her glass in fear of spilling its content. While trying to regain her balance she looked at Tamsin. Lauren had never seen her so relaxed as now, lounging on her couch and giggling like a little child. Seeing the light of a smile actually reaching her eyes was a rare sight. Lauren decided that she liked it.

Tamsin was manipulative as hell, but right now Lauren didn't care. All her worries dissolved slowly in the warmth of alcohol settling in her stomach.

It was liberating for both of them. A heavy stone pressing down on her neck finally fell from Lauren's shoulders, at least for this night. As she shook her head her silky hair flowing down over her shoulders shone golden in the lamplight. She flipped it back and grinned widely. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed this heartily. It felt wonderful.

Tamsin left very late that night. And for the first time in what felt like forever Lauren didn't think about Bo before falling asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Thank you all so much for your incredible reviews! You make my day every time. **I am sorry this chapter took me so long, since I wasn't at home for the last three weeks. I hope its content somehow makes up for that. But now I have lots of time and I promise a quick update.

And yes, this story is slowly turning into a doccubus vs. copdoc thing I never had originally in mind. I like it, though.

IX

The days flittered past faster than Lauren could keep up with. If it wasn't for the occasional visits by Bo, Lauren would have lost count. In the morning she got up at impossible times to drive to work and get as much done as possible, before returning home again in the mid afternoon to struggle with tests and experiments on the sphere. To do so she strained her position and influence within the Light Compound heavily. Borrowing a lot of equipment was not approved of. The rules were strict on that, especially as she was human. But she managed it anyways. Her mind was completely wrapped around the sphere. And its complete refusal to tell its secrets.

Sometimes she nipped to the Light library for research. She'd have killed for an electronic version of it, but the Ash proved to be more conservative than she imagined and denied every proposal to convert the storage of the invaluable information into a more practical way. Lauren liked the library itself, though. The smell of old books, the dust, the damp air in the archives reminded her of college days, otherwise almost forgotten. Her ventures into the library provided a welcome escape from the hectic lab as well. Everything she couldn't read on the compound while waiting for test results or computer programs to run she took back home with her. She did her research thoroughly. After very stressful days at work and at home Lauren fell asleep reading about Berserks and Seiðr and Valkyries.

It annoyed her vastly, but she enjoyed the books. They began piling up in her lab. The story that captured Lauren's attention the most was the Æsir-Vanir War. Information on it was rare and fragmented and poorly translated, but she fought her way through many thick books looking for references to it. Occasionally she found whole chapters devoted to the conflict between the Æsir and the Vanir, finally merging into one pantheon. She found herself comparing those two groups of gods to the modern Fae society divided into Light and Dark. And how they solved their conflict. The war didn't bear any relevance to her quest of discovering Tamsin's past, but the story was intriguing nonetheless.

Not that Lauren would have ever admitted to delve for hints of the Valkyrie's past life anyways.

Her lab became her home. While her computers beeped from time to time and a mini-centrifuge with DNA samples whirled quietly in the background she buried herself between the brown parchment pages of books more than hundred years old.

However, the sphere was mentioned even less. What Lauren did find out was mainly just that once there had been several of them, found at the roots of Yggdrasil and then shared among the highest Fae. From then on they were sometimes mentioned as powerful weapons, used only in desperate situations with no other hope left. Just very few Fae authors listed them at all. To human writers their existence seemed to be unknown. Their appearances became less and less, until they vanished completely from the records. No particular myth seemed to be spun around them, unlike the Fae themselves.

In short, the Norse pantheon derived from prominent Fae in Scandinavia and Siberia at that time, just like almost all other polytheistic religions of the past were influenced by powerful Fae within their geographic range. Today some of these Fae were still around somewhere, either mourning their lost glory or attempting to keep their lifestyle at the same level they had in ancient times. Carefully turning the pages of an especially fragile but beautifully illustrated volume, Lauren had to smile involuntarily. She would never forget the visit of Hera to the Light's compound four years ago.

Mentions of Berserks popped up quite often. An especially nasty and brutish sort of Fae, violent gorillas hired for dirty work, but expensive since they were mostly successful with their jobs. Myths associated them with the Norse god Odin. Lauren didn't bother to look at that more closely, though, since she didn't think it bore any relevance.

Sometimes Bo would come by. She walked into her lab or flat mostly unannounced. Bo complained often that Lauren had not called her back that day, and Lauren, distracted by her microscope, or if she was at home by quickly putting away all evidence for the sphere which she kept upstairs, foolishly promised to make it up. A huge smile spread across Bo's face after that answer. It became harder and harder for Lauren to keep the promise she gave herself and stay away from the succubus.

Bo made sure not to cross any line. She paid Lauren little compliments, but didn't pressure her. She did her best to make Lauren feel comfortable in her company. She worked her way carefully. Her charm and grace and ease ascertained it.

Lauren concentrated her effort in the lab on finding a solution for Bo's problem. Even after all that trouble Tamsin had caused with her sphere she had not forgotten about the succubus' increase in hunger. Tamsin had somehow vanished anyways, after that night she had left the sphere at Lauren's place.

Lauren kept analyzing her test samples of Bo's blood. The results did indeed indicate that there was something going on with her, something within her immune system. Of course she had no experience with succubui before Bo, though, so she didn't know whether that was just the aftermath of the Dawning.

Bo used that as an excuse to see her as often as possible, at the lab or at home. Lauren didn't know how she was supposed to think about it. Bo was trying to get closer to her again. She strolled in every other day, just staying for a couple of minutes, with playfully glinting chocolate-brown eyes, flirty comments on her lips, and an outrageous amount of cleavage.

Sometimes Lauren remembered the days when they had been fighting against the Garuda and their relationship had been exactly the same. Except it wasn't. There was a nagging voice in the back of her head that told her that it would never work between her and Bo. She had seen it. They had tried it, and failed. And Lauren didn't want to go back there.

And yet, here she was.

The worst part was that Lauren couldn't make up her mind whether it was progress or a giant leap backwards.

It was already getting dark outside, again, as Lauren noticed when she looked up from her notes. She was standing next to the incubator with her cell cultures, going through the different growth rates and trying to find out how she could extrapolate them, when she heard a marked knock on the door. Maybe she had missed the first one. Lauren looked over her shoulder. It was Bo, of course. This day must have been around the fifth time Bo had come to the lab this week. Lauren had already lost count.

Bo had put on a little bit of perfume. Although barely detectable Lauren smelled it the moment the succubus walked through the door. The fragrance was bloomy and sweet. It filled the lab with the airy scent of spring flowers. Lauren feared it would make her feel dizzy and her head spin if she inhaled too deeply.

"Hello," Bo mumbled, staying at the far end of the room, by the door.

"Hi," Lauren answered softly. "I'm sorry, still nothing. I may need to check your interleukins again, though. The paracrine cell signaling responses are still weak."

"Oh, okay."

"You have no idea of what I am talking about, have you?"

"Nope." Bo grinned broadly. "But I'll happily do whatever you say, Lauren."

"Just another blood sample. I'll give you a call as soon as I have news for you."

"And you forget it again? No way. I am making sure this time. Besides, I am enjoying the view." Bo laughed as her eyes trailed – shamelessly – up Lauren's legs. The day had been hot and humid, so for once Lauren's lab coat was neither hiding her tailored suit pants nor the silk ruffle cami, accentuating Lauren's toned arms.

Lauren smiled and quickly turned back to her notes, successfully avoiding throwing a closer look at Bo. The succubus noticed every glance. It encouraged her, as Lauren had learnt.

However, Bo didn't seem to be up for her usual flirting. Lauren could almost hear Bo's hand wringing in her next sentences.

"Actually, there is something else I wanted to talk about with you." A short pause, maybe a frown. Lauren was tempted to turn around again. "Do you remember the Berserk I killed?"

Lauren nodded to the papers in her hand, focusing on every syllable Bo uttered. She tryied to detect every hidden meaning. Her thoughts started racing through her head. She was tempted to look at Bo, in her eyes, to be exact. Bo's eyes always told her thoughts like open books.

Then she heard a decisive clicking noise. Bo had looked the door. Lauren frowned slightly.

"That Berserk was the last time I fed." Another awkward pause. Bo's internal struggle was almost tangible in her voice. "Look, I am not going to say this if you don't want to talk about it. About my feeding?"

"It's fine, Bo, really. It's my job." Lauren managed to conceal her dry mouth and the stiffness creeping up her back, still not turning around to face Bo. It was easier this way.

Bo sighed. "It felt good. I haven't felt hungry since then. That's… new to me. Since the Dawning. And it gave me an idea. What if – what if that's how I could feed now? Off the bad guys?"

The implication was crystal clear. No sex necessary to feed.

"Do you think this could work, Lauren?" Bo's voice sounded small and lost. She really cared about Lauren's thoughts. And she was afraid she might be rejected. But Lauren wasn't sure what she wanted to hear.

This time it was the doctor who sighed. "You _killed_ this guy, Bo. You can't do that every time you get hungry."

"I wouldn't have to go this far. But you broke up with me because I needed so much. No, just listen to me – " Lauren had raised her hand but Bo kept talking. "I needed all my time and energy for the Dawning. And I took it from you. And our relationship. This might be my chance to focus on you."

Lauren swallowed. She had anticipated and feared this at the same time. Her emotions threatened to break through her walls. She was torn between wanting Bo to apologize for everything that had happened between them, to make up for it, and running as fast and as far as she could. The latter was the responsible, sensible thing to do. There had been so much more happening between them.

Bo's last words were a whisper. "You don't have to answer. Just think about it."

Suddenly Bo was right behind her, savoring the moment. Her heels clicked on the floor as she stepped towards the doctor, until she was so close Lauren could feel her breath in her neck. She tensed up, closing her eyes and holding her breath. She was still facing the window, her back towards the succubus.

Barely brushing her skin a gentle finger stroked Lauren's hair back from her shoulder. Where Bo touched her Lauren felt sparks kindled underneath her skin. "You look overworked, Lauren," Bo murmured against her neck. "You need a break."

No, no, _no._

Lauren's heartbeat quickened. Fire started pulsing through her veins, radiating from Bo's soft caressing. It took her immense effort to lay the notes in her hands back on the desk without trembling. She wanted to hold Bo again, to feel her, to taste her. The urge grew so overwhelmingly strong that for the first time since their break-up Lauren couldn't remember why they had done that in the first place.

The heat waves running through her whole body cleared her head from every other thought. Phosphor would have burnt less.

The moment stretched into eternity. Lauren, her eyes still closed, could clearly feel Bo right behind her, mere inches away. Her presence filled the whole of Lauren's mind. Without giving it a second thought she leaned back towards Bo, who had in turn shifted her weight towards the human. Her hair brushed lightly against Lauren's skin as her head was above Lauren's shoulder. She was completely still now, afraid of the slightest movement that could ruin everything. Their breathing had the same rhythm, both sensed each other's presence in every way possible. Both had their lips slightly parted and eyes closed.

Softly, Bo laid her lips on the exposed skin of Lauren's shoulder. Her finger pulled the strap of her top to the side. A slight gasp escaped Lauren's lips. Bo's other hand found her waist. She pulled the doctor closer to her.

There was a faint sensation in the back of her head, like alarm bells shrilling very distinctly, but Lauren pushed the feeling aside. There was no space left in her head but for Bo's closeness.

Lauren was almost sure that Bo was using her powers on her. Frankly, she didn't care.

Instead, she was painfully aware of Bo's body heat and her own wetness.

"Lauren. Look at me."

Lauren obeyed, and, after weeks of denial, gave in.

Bo's face was not an inch away from hers. Lauren allowed herself to take it all in, to trail her lips and cheekbones with her eyes again, before drowning in Bo's dark, brown eyes. Her mind kind of shut down after that. All reason left her. It was more than that, she _didn't want_ to think about this.

Bo looked at her with want, though. Her lips spread into a ravishing smile, the human exactly where she wanted her, pulsing with desire, right here in her arms.

The grip on Lauren's waist tightened and then out of nowhere Bo's lips merged with hers and somehow her hands were grabbing for Bo, for her face, for her hair, for her jacket and shirt, desperate to get it over her head, to get to her body as well. Their kiss felt so familiar, Bo's tongue slid over hers like it used to a thousand times before, and yet it was completely different.

Bo stripped off her jacket and threw it across the room without breaking their kiss. She put all her longing and wanting into it. Her tongue parted Lauren's lips easily, tasting the vibrating desire Lauren gave back involuntarily.

Bo made Lauren feel achingly ravenous, watching her as if she was the only thing in the world, when instead Bo was the most beautiful woman Lauren had ever laid eyes on.

Smoothly, she pressed her thigh between Lauren's legs. Her hands dropped to the doctor's belt. She tore Lauren's shirt out of it and over her head, just to struggle with her own clothing. The human threw her head back, her lips parted in the slightest tremble, as Bo finally stripped her own shirt off as well. Bo sucked and nibbled at Lauren's collarbone while her hands pressed against the small of her back to pull her closer. Lauren's sex throbbed already painfully against Bo's thigh. It took her all her might not to grind down on it.

No sex to feed. This was different.

Bo slid her other thigh between Lauren's legs as well, spreading them further, and swiftly lifted the doctor up. Her hands traveled down her lithe body, over her ass, to the back of Lauren's thighs, to support her weight. Lauren gasped for breath as her feet left the floor. Bo could carry her without effort. Just in her bra, Lauren felt heat surging where Bo's hands had traced her back.

Lauren's movements were hectic and erratic while Bo relished every single one, completely in control of the situation. Unlike Lauren. She melted underneath Bo's hands.

Now on top of her Lauren leaned on Bo, so her blond hair cascaded down on the succubus. Lauren folded her legs around Bo's hip, locking them to press Bo as close to her as possible. She laid one hand on Bo's chest to hold herself upright and felt the drumming of her heartbeat under her palm. The heat in her grew overwhelmingly strong.

The succubus answered with a husky moan at Lauren's eager response to Bo taking control of her. She was going full risk with this, breaking every single rule between her and Lauren. The sensible thing to do would be to wait, to take it slow. But she had waited for so long now. She had stopped caring a long time ago. She craved to ravage Lauren and now she took what she wanted.

Lauren cupped her face, desperate to taste more of Bo. While Bo buried her fingernails in the back of her thighs Lauren sucked Bo's lip in another long kiss and let her hands find Bo's bra. Struggling with impatience her fingers unclasped it hastily. She needed Bo inside her, right here, right now. Her wetness was driving her mad.

Bo sensed it. She had to hold Lauren with one hand at a time while the doctor got rid of Bo's bra, to find her nipples already hard. It sent Lauren spiraling into another searing peak of desire. At first, they crashed into her desk, where Lauren slid down from Bo's hip on the wooden table surface, to place her lips on one of Bo's breasts. Feeling Lauren's tongue and teeth around her nipple, Bo groaned her name, for a second distracted from opening Lauren's bra. It turned Lauren on beyond belief. Bo returned the favour to her lover's breasts with so much skill it caused Lauren to cry out her name.

Immediately Bo's head came back up again. With one hand she closed Lauren's open mouth. "Shhh," she murmured into her ear, tugging softly at her lobe. "You don't want anyone to hear us."

Bo being the sensible one threatened to drive Lauren entirely into madness.

Then Bo looked at her with so much blinding lust in her eyes that Lauren whimpered against her fingers. Grinning mischievously, Bo shoved her hand down Lauren's pants. She felt her mouth against her other palm and watched her expression change as she started circling movements with her fingers inside Lauren. It caused gleaming satisfaction to unravel on Bo's face. Again, the human needed Bo's hand to stop her from crying out loud. She arched forward, to edge of the desk, towards Bo as far as the succubus allowed it, almost slipping down from the desk again. Bo didn't let her, though.

Her brown eyes glinted hellishly at the state she had the doctor already brought to. All Lauren could do is hold on to the succubus' face, leaning in to another breathless kiss. But Bo didn't give her what she needed, not yet. Instead, she pulled her hand, now wet from Lauren, back and lifted the doctor up again.

This time Bo stumbled through the lab, blind, her eyes closed to concentrate on Lauren's open mouth on hers. Their hot bodies were pressed together as Bo carried Lauren to the patient's couch. They fell onto it, Bo kneeling between Lauren's legs, pulling her hip, arched upwards, closer to her. She opened Lauren's pants and pulled them down as well as the black lace underwear.

Lauren raised her posture, arms outstretched towards her lover, only to arch back again when Bo didn't slide her fingers back into Lauren's sex but her tongue.

Lauren sucked in a deep breath as Bo started to ravage her.

This time she did cry out. Her knuckles turned white from her grasp on the black leather of the couch. She moaned Bo's name, again and again. Effortlessly, the succubus' hands parted her thighs even further. They trailed them and the outlines of her hipbones and stomach until Lauren was sure to be marked with third degree burns. It didn't take Bo long to get her to come.

Finally, Lauren felt the heat leaving her again. This time Bo let her sat up. She smiled at her with a toxic mixture of satisfaction, hunger and 'told you so'. Lauren's temples were throbbing but the temptation sitting right in front of her was too strong to resist. She leaned towards Bo until their lips met again, this time more passionate than before. Slowly, Bo let the human take over, until Lauren could make her taste her own wetness on her fingers.

…

No, no, no, _fuck, no._

Bo had left with happiness written across her face. She basically exhaled it. It made Lauren feel even worse. Bo had been so blissful Lauren thought she might explode, blinding her in the process. They hadn't really spoken about it, though. Their parting without any further talk, any attempt to explain what had just happened, left their relationship hanging in the balance.

What Bo thought was pretty clear to Lauren. She was more concerned about her own reaction. As soon as the succubus had walked through the door again, the realization of what she had just done crashed down on her. She knew that Bo's powers allowed her to have this affect on people. It worried her, though, that she had used them on Lauren in this way. At least that was what Lauren thought.

After Bo had left, with a somewhat awkward "See you soon", Lauren had buried her head in her hands and refused to lift it for half an hour at least. This had been the worst thing that could possibly have happened tight now. Lauren's feelings were in turmoil and her mind was not able to make any sense of them, not in the slightest.

Their problems had started when they stopped talking. And they hadn't taken that up again, like responsible adults would, but Lauren had allowed Bo to bang her in the office like hormonal teenagers.

But Bo was a succubus, and she was human. She felt like she was a moth dancing too close to a blazing fire.

It was a relapse. It had to stop. No, there was nothing that could stop since nothing had begun, or returned, or resurfaced. It was a onetime only thing. _A mistake. _Lauren's rationality was not able, though, to drive the memory of Bo's hands and eyes and tongue out of her head. It was not very helpful, either, that her body seemed to be able to recall every single touch of the succubus.

But it had felt so intangibly good. So natural. And maybe Bo had not been able to make sense of the situation as well. Lauren had no idea where they were standing right now.

The only thing Bo had said afterwards had not made it any easier. Lauren turned the words in her head over and over again. _You make me feel human again._ Was this was Bo wanted? Was this what she was after? And was Lauren just a prop to get her there, to be disposed of again if she stopped needing her, as she had abandoned their relationship during the Dawning?

No, that wasn't fair, Lauren couldn't allow herself to think like that. She had to be rational right now. She looked into her small hand mirror, trying to tame the disheveled mess her hair posed.

…

Finally, Lauren had escaped from her lab, well, finished admin stuff she had delayed while so much other stuff blocked her time. But right now she needed to stop thinking. So she had headed home and buried herself in numbing paperwork until the lines started blurring. She didn't pay attention to how much time passed, as long as she could stop her thoughts from spinning.

Lauren felt almost thankful for the fact that it had already been quite late when Bo visited her, after all it was very unlikely that anyone had noticed them this late in the afternoon. Everyone else in the lab should have had left by then.

At home, after piles of paperwork, she had just lain in her bed for an hour or so, staring in the black and not even trying to fall asleep. Lauren had even contemplated a beer. But, back down in the kitchen, the first sip changed her mind. Alcohol wouldn't help her the next morning. Which was not very far away anymore. Instead she had begun to search her bathroom cupboard for sleeping pills. Then the doorbell rang.

Lauren froze in the middle of her movement. _Bo_.

It wasn't the succubus, though, as the impatient banging on the door and a demanding "Doc?!" ascertained. It was Tamsin. Lauren hadn't heard from her in days. And right now was the worst possible moment to change that. She sighed heavily before she opened the door.

Tamsin had just raised her fist to knock again. It dropped to her side as she raised her head to look at Lauren. The homicide detective was wearing that blue leather jacket that made her bright green eyes almost shine blue. Her hair fell over her shoulders and looked slightly disarrayed, as if she had been running. Her cheeks showed the faintest touch of red. She looked wired and restless. But as her eyes met Lauren's the familiar smirk of hers slowly begun playing with her lips.

Her grin allowed Lauren to see her tongue swipe over her teeth. She relaxed visibly in front of her. Lauren noticed the police badge and the gun on her hip. And Lauren wasn't hundred percent sure but she thought she could see a hint of dark rings underneath her eyes.

"Are you drunk?" Lauren asked flatly.

"Why does everyone always assume that?" Tamsin answered, storming past her. A faint note of smoke followed her. She didn't even bother to ask whether she could come in. Lauren closed the door and went after her into her flat.

"It's in the middle of the night!"

Tamsin's gaze fell on Lauren's pyjama. It lingered there far too long for Lauren's taste. Suddenly she was aware how ruffled she must look with the tangled hair and the smeared makeup she hadn't bothered to remove. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You were awake, though," Tamsin stated with a wicked grin.

"Sometimes your lack of tact still astonishes me."

"What, do you have a guest?"

"God, no."

"Thought so," Tamsin drawled, still grinning. "What happened to you then?"

Lauren just frowned and rubbed her eyes. "What do you want, Tamsin? I am really tired."

"Uhm," Tamsin paused. Something made Lauren think that Tamsin hadn't thought so far before coming here. "I just wanted to know how you progress," she said finally.

Lauren just raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have stormed in like this, but I spent the last days looking for our friends. I was following one of these Berserks. But I lost track of him again. It was around the neigbourhood. I panicked and thought they may have found out that you have the sphere. I just wanted to check on it."

"Seriously?! The sphere? I can assure you that no one has tried to break in and steal it. It's still upstairs. Do you want to see it? And thank you so much for your concern about my wellbeing."

"No, I trust you." She grinned and hesitated shortly, before asking bluntly "Do you mind if I crash on your couch for the night?"

Lauren stared at her in disbelief. "What?"

"Just for this night. You won't notice me, I promise. It's just that those thugs are still around somewhere. I don't want to leave the sphere unprotected."

That's it. Lauren lost her patience. "You come in here, in the middle of the night, after I had a hell of a day, and you want to sleep on my couch because some gorillas you or your colleagues are not able to catch might be in the neighbourhood, looking for that sphere _you,_ "Lauren pointed her finger at Tamsin's chest," gave to me in the first place?"

"Well, I think that they might be observing my place, so it's safer here."

"Are you kidding me? You are not only drawing me into your mess by asking me to find out how to handle that thing, which you should really know yourself, since it's your family's _heirloom_, but you are also using my place to hide it?!" Lauren's voice rose steadily until it was close to shouting. She threw her hands up, gesturing wildly. This was definitely neither the time nor the place she wanted to argue with Tamsin.

But the Valkyrie was standing right here, looking at her with those intense green eyes, darting from Lauren's eyes to her lips and back again, unblinking, and behaving as if she owned the place. It sent a pang of anger rushing through Lauren's numb and exhausted head. And the worst part was that Tamsin just watched her calmly as she unraveled in front of her. Tamsin just took it all in. All of Lauren's agony of the last hours poured into her words, channeling her headache into this unjustified blame on the Valkyrie.

But it was her reaction to Lauren's words, or lack thereof, which infuriated Lauren the most. Tamsin stared at her, with an unusual blank face. She held herself completely still, while Lauren's chest was heaving and her hands trembling.

There was a short pause after Lauren had finished. Then Tamsin said softly "Sometimes you are spectacularly ignorant of the world around you."

"Get out. Now."

"Would I change your mind if I said that I might be a little bit drunk, and blame this discussion on that?"

"Don't be stupid, Tamsin."

"I am not stupid. I am really good at doing stupid things, though."

"You don't say."

"Do you want me to do something really stupid?"

"I think it's already too late for that, Tamsin, you – "

"Is it?" Tamsin murmured and stepped forward. Faster than a blink she had bridged the gap between them. She was so quick Lauren didn't even have the time to think about uttering "What are you doing?"  
Instead, Tamsin reached with one hand for Lauren's chin, and pressed her lips onto hers.

Tamsin's palm and thumb ran roughly across Lauren' cheek and jawline, until she buried her fingers in Lauren's golden hair, still surging forward. She sucked roughly at Lauren's lower lip, letting Lauren feel her teeth. Her other hand pressed hard against Lauren's ribs through the thin silk of her clothes. It felt like the low rumble of thunder in the distance vibrating in her stomach.

Lauren was so taken by surprise that she froze, completely, hands still outstretched in the gesture she had attempted. Then she began to struggle against the Fae. She tried to withdraw from the Valkyrie. Her hands tried to grab something – anything – within her reach to regain her balance. She clasped the edge of the kitchen table behind her back, knocking over the beer bottle she had opened before. It fell to the floor where it splintered loudly on the hard linoleum.

Tamsin reacted by grabbing the waistband of Lauren's pants. She clenched it tightly and pulled Lauren fiercely towards herself again. But she didn't stop her initial bolting movement forward. So right after pulling the doctor away from the table they crashed into it again, shoving it several inches backwards. The noise of the table legs scratching over the floor mixed with shards of glass being broken under their stumbling feet and Tamsin's ringing laughter. Lauren could feel her chuckle resonate within their kiss.

Her lean and muscular body pressed against Lauren's. She was taller than the human and had no trouble following her movements. And suddenly she was holding Lauren's wrist again, like she did this one time before, just this time it's feral, not protective.

Then Lauren made the mistake of trying to yell at her and opened her mouth. She parted her lips just slightly, though, before the Valkyrie mirrored her. Their tongues locked.

Tamsin tasted salty like the sea, raucous. Lauren could have sworn that foam and spray mixed between her lips and waved over her tongue. This was insane. Completely and utterly insane. It felt like falling, and tasted so goddamn good.

In that moment Lauren hated Tamsin with every single fiber of her body. Her fury grew so overwhelmingly strong that when the Dark Fae pulled away, just one millimeter, to take another breath, supposedly, Lauren followed her roughly. Their mouths crash into each other again, just the other way round. There was something indefinitely more troubling about it this time.

Lauren closed her teeth around Tamsin's bottom lip. She bit her until the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Tamsin chuckled again, or maybe moaned, Lauren wasn't sure, since the taste robbed her of her ability to sense anything else. She groaned when Tamsin sucked in her breath. Her lips melted away from Lauren's as quickly as they had met.

Tamsin didn't draw back though, not yet. Their faces stayed not even an inch away from each other, her eyes staring mischievously down into Lauren's, and maybe there was something else in them as well. Something Lauren couldn't identify within the mist of her confusion. The human didn't move, petrified. Tamsin tugged at Lauren's shirt until she revealed the Light's silver necklace on Lauren's collarbone. Her finger trailed it, once, before she finally let go of Lauren.

Her retreat was accompanied by her thumb running over her bottom lip, where Lauren had bitten her.

"Can I sleep on your couch now?"


	10. Chapter 10

X

For some reason, Lauren had always imagined that being sucked in a big black hole felt different. That was one of her early youth fantasies, when somewhat more realistic but equally naïve ideas about doctors without borders hadn't caught up with her yet. Star gazing with her own telescope, she had dreamt of becoming the first theoretic physicist slash astronaut who'd figure out how to travel to trough black holes. Of course she had never told anyone about it, but she had thought about it nonetheless.

It didn't, though. It felt completely different from what she had imagined it would. Lying in the dark in her bed when one floor beneath her the Dark Valkyrie was sleeping on her couch, only separated by a thin layer of concrete from Lauren, ice water filled her lungs and stomach until she was sure that, even if she had tried, she wouldn't have been able to move.

The kiss haunted her. Bo haunted her.

The thing that scared her the most was her own reaction. She hadn't been able to answer Tamsin's question. Tamsin had smirked, not lifted her eyes from Lauren's, and sprawled on the couch like a cat. Lauren had wanted to snap at her for being the most arrogant woman she had ever met, or yell at her for shattering the fragile bond of trust they had started to develop. A tiny part of her had started to like the Valkyrie. Yes, she was rude and annoying at best, outright manipulative at worst, but she didn't let anyone mess with her.

Lauren would have never called it friendship. But the Dark Fae presented a welcome difference to all her colleagues and the other Light Fae she knew. Tamsin was cocky, reckless and self-confident. A small part of Lauren had admired this freedom Tamsin had.

And then Tamsin had proceeded to destroy every bit of positive feelings towards her single-handedly. She had used her to hide the sphere and caused her to turn around and leave, fleeing from the Fae in her own living room. Honestly, what on earth had she expected after what had happened between them?

And then there was Bo. Whenever Lauren closed her eyes she saw her smiling face above her. She didn't know whether she could trust her. She wanted to, she longed for it, to be able to let go for once and let Bo catch her, but she couldn't. Bo had used her powers, Lauren was sure about that by now, and that was overstepping the boundaries. It was not okay to do that, especially right now. Even though it had felt right.

Lauren wondered whether Tamsin was listening as attentively for her every breath as she was for the Valkyrie's. Not that she could hear her, of course. Her bedroom door was firmly closed. And the light emerging from the narrow gap between it and the floor had vanished long ago, so the Valkyrie had probably gone to sleep as well. Once Lauren thought she could hear her footsteps, though.

The memories swirled in her head until she was unable to distinguish between Bo's brown eyes and Tamsin's blood on her lip.

Her consciousness flickered, and then somehow she succumbed to deep sleep, luckily without dreams, or at least she didn't remember them.

When she woke up in the morning her bed sheets were damp with sweat, though. She spent two minutes just lying there with closed eyes, hoping that last night had been a bad dream.

Last night she had yielded to Tamsin. The Valkyrie had played her cards well. She knew Lauren would have never allowed her in her home, so she had attacked her defenses in the most unexpected way. The kiss had managed to baffle Lauren so much that she had rather left the room to escape Tamsin than confront her. By the light of the new day the human collected her thoughts. Everything looked better in the morning anyways. First, she'd throw Tamsin out, and then she'd call Bo. Work would have to wait, for once. She got up and went into the bathroom to shower.

Tamsin was lying on the couch, her arms crossed and resting on her face to block the sunlight streaming through the window. Her leather jacket was carelessly flung on one of the chairs. She had kicked off her boots without bothering to pick them up from where they had fallen on the floor. Lauren nearly tripped over one of them. She walked past the sleeping Valkyrie to the kitchen.

Tamsin's breath was soft and deep. While making coffee Lauren rattled with the cups and dishes, definitely louder than necessary.

Tamsin's response didn't take long. Before the water boiled she had groaned twice and begun to stretch her lithe body. Lauren was sure she mumbled something like "Jesus fucking Christ, what time…" while rubbing her eyes. The pleasant feeling of satisfaction settled in Lauren's chest. She had to bite her lips to restrain herself from wishing Tamsin a sarcastic "Good morning". She really hoped that Tamsin had a proper headache.

"What, don't I get a 'rise and shine, love'?" Tamsin asked instead, throwing an annoyed glance in the direction of the noise.

Lauren ignored her. She poured herself a cup of coffee with milk and took a sip. "I don't know what exactly you pulled last night, but I would be very grateful if you could just go home. And take that sphere with you, I am not helping you any longer," Lauren stated.

"How about breakfast at first?" The Valkyrie sat up slowly.

"Tamsin," Lauren sighed.

"Sorry, can't."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, when I said I needed to stay here I also meant that I couldn't sleep at home."

Lauren stared at her for a moment. "What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

Even though Lauren did her best to glare at her Tamsin took her time. She stood up and strolled to the kitchen counter. Somehow she knew exactly in which cupboard Lauren kept her cups. She helped herself to some coffee as well, before she answered, with a faint note of contempt in her voice.

"They discovered my home. They searched it. And it looks like these imbeciles set it on fire. It spread, apparently. I didn't get close though, the police were all over the place. I'm not registered as the owner and I had no intention of spending the night in jail because of suspicious behavior," Tamsin said flatly.

"Shit," escaped Lauren's lips. That was not what she had wanted to hear. And sadly, the morning news did feature a story about a fire downtown. Lauren checked them while Tamsin sipped her coffee.

"Your couch is the worst, I can't feel my lower back anymore," she complained, the coffee had apparently revived her.

"I thought you were a warrior? You're a bit delicate for a true-born Valkyrie, don't you think?"

Tamsin laughed. "I have my standards, you know."

"So, someone burns down your house and the first place you go to is here?"

"Jesus, Lauren, thank God you don't earn your living with thinking," Lauren rolled her eyes while Tamsin continued. "These Berserks are after the sphere and probably know where it is if they knew where I lived as well. I couldn't let them –" The Valkyrie stopped abruptly, shaking her head.

This was not going the way Lauren had planned. Tamsin should have left by now.

Instead, Lauren watched her across the rim of her cup. She didn't know how she was supposed to think about all this. She was still angry at the Valkyrie, after all. But she had let herself being dragged into this mess. It was only going to get worse if these Fae knew where her place was.

Then Tamsin's stomach grumbled audibly. Despite her irritation, Lauren had to smile.

"Okay, maybe you can get your breakfast before I throw you out."

For a blink Tamsin looked at her almost thankfully. It was so short Lauren couldn't tell whether she had just imagined it. Then her familiar smirk reappeared. "Thanks, Doc," she drawled.

They continued to talk while Lauren rummaged in the kitchen, handing everything to Tamsin who, leisurely, set the table. She was still wearing the same jeans and tank top as yesterday, but Lauren didn't intend to help her with that.

"And what the hell was that last night?"

Tamsin grinned at Lauren's choice of words. "Oh, and I figured you were the type who swept everything under the carpet."

"I'm beginning to think you can't handle alcohol."

"Say again?" Now it was Tamsin's time to burst out. "You were the one who fled to her room like a startled deer!"

"You practically jumped on me in my living room in the middle of the night!"

"You _bit_ me!" Tamsin was genuinely enjoying herself by now. Lauren let the subject drop.

After a short silence Tamsin asked gently, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, of course!" Lauren frowned while answering.

"You are a shit liar." After a short while she added "I'm sorry."

…

After their breakfast Tamsin wanted Lauren to bring down the sphere.

"Don't you think it's time for you to stark looking for a place where you can stay tonight? And maybe buy new stuff or find out if you can rescue something from your house?"

"Now that I had my coffee the sphere is slightly more important. We have to find out how to use it before these bastards come to get it. They are dangerous and very likely out for blood."

Lauren was still not persuaded. "If they are so good, but haven't turned up by now, why do you think they will at all?"

"Because I say so." Her arrogance was beginning to anger Lauren.

But she didn't push her further on this point. "Besides, your sphere has not responded to anything I've tried. Not a single one of my instruments could detect it, not even ultrasound or PET, and I was really desperate when I tried that. For a short while I thought it was harnessing electricity, though. Charged particles in general seem to respond, since I tried a magnifying transmitter from the Light compound. But something similar to superconductivity occurs way too often to …" Lauren's voice trailed off as Tamsin frowned. Her geek speak had taken over again, she realized.

But Tamsin continued to surprise her greatly. She urged her on. Tamsin understood completely what Lauren was rambling about. "Yes, the superconductivity? I guess RVB doesn't explain it."

"Exactly!" Lauren continued her accounts of what she'd found in the last days. It didn't take her long, though, since it had been so little. But she was immensely thankful that Tamsin didn't need any extra explanation on the underlying physics. She made a mental note to ask the Valkyrie where she had her knowledge from.

In the end Tamsin sighed heavily. Tamsin put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand, staring at Lauren. "I had hoped for more."

"It's Fae. You can't expect me to crack it with human tech in a couple of days. Maybe if you gave me more information I could try some Fae stuff as well."

"I have nothing more. And that won't work. It has built-in mechanisms against everything Fae."

"That's why you came to me in the first place?"

"First of all, you came to me, if I remember correctly, and secondly, you are the best."

Lauren swallowed. Tamsin had answered with what seemed to be complete, though casual, honesty, since her eyes glinted with amusement at the first part.

"So," Lauren went on, "if these Berserks are presumably still looking for the sphere, why haven't they attacked yet?"

"I don't know, but I guess they are waiting for orders. They weren't supposed to lose me in the first place. And most of all they didn't expect to lose a brother to the succubus. They were raging after that. I guess in their fury they set my house on fire after they searched it for me."

A sudden thought hit Lauren. She wasn't able to hide the fear in her next question. "Is Bo in danger?"

Tamsin grinned at Lauren's reaction. "Not more than usual. Don't worry, unlike you the succubus can watch out for herself, as you might have noticed."

Lauren sighed. She didn't think so.

Tamsin cocked her head to her side. "Why do you still care so much for her anyways? I thought she treated you like shit."

"She didn't." Lauren's answer was calm and firm. She tried to end the topic with it. It didn't work, of course.

"I mean, once you slapped me when I mentioned her."

Lauren wanted to say "I am not going to discuss this with you." She wanted to show Tamsin where her boundaries were. She wanted to slap her again, for bringing up this topic. Lauren had been able to push it back, for once, and now her emotions came back roaring at her. It was complicated and Tamsin didn't help to solve the issue, not at all. Lauren needed her to shut up.

Instead she said "Why did you and Bo kiss?" Her question slipped out of her mouth quietly, like it had been nagging in the back of her head for weeks. But her tone was urgent and her eyes betrayed her as well.

Tamsin stared at her for a split second, before breaking into soft laughter. "Seriously? That's what you are still worried about? By now you really should have realized that I don't put _that_ much meaning into whom I kiss. Besides", she hesitated for a second and eyed Lauren closely," Bo is all over you. She runs after you like a small dog."

"Do I look like I need your opinion on Bo's and mine relationship?" Lauren snapped back. She was angry with Tamsin for her answer, and furious with herself for asking in the first place.

Amusement glinted in the Valkyrie's eyes. "You look like you need advice in general."

"Excuse me?"

"Just sayin'."

"You just managed to get your place burnt to the ground!"

Tamsin laughed again. Lauren couldn't understand her. Her whole situation was horrible. She was apparently in deep trouble with her past, there were assassins on her back, and she had just lost her house, presumably with all her things in it. Lauren would have felt desperate. Instead, Tamsin was sitting here, enjoying herself tremendously at making Lauren feel uncomfortable. The human stared at her at loss for words. She just didn't get the Valkyrie.

Tamsin seemed to read Lauren's mind about her strange behavior in this situation. "I know how to help myself." She gave her the broadest smile. "But if it comes to the worst, I will just disappear for a while again."

Lauren raised her eyebrows. She studied Tamsin's face for a moment. And if she was not going to get rid of Tamsin easily as she had planned to this morning, then she could at least return her treatment.

"You know, I think in reality bitch doesn't go well with you."

For once, she'd caught Tamsin off-guard. Her reply was defensive. "You think? As I said, sometimes you are spectacularly ignorant of the world around you." She sounded almost offended when she snarled "Do you know that I used to be a bounty hunter?"

"Are you trying to tell me that this is not the first time this has happened to you?"

"I've never had a price on my head, but the rest… Maybe. Once or twice."

"Then you're doing something wrong."

Tamsin drew a deep breath. "You have no idea what you are talking about, Lauren."

"Then just tell me!" Lauren exclaimed loudly.

Silence settled in between them. Tamsin looked at her with clarity, and maybe something like regret. For the first time Lauren thought that, maybe, she could detect something that faintly resembled a feeling of worry. It seemed strange, though, to mix these two. Tamsin's eyes shone vividly green and once again Lauren was reminded of the sea. She wondered when the last time had been someone had asked the Valkyrie about her past. Maybe Tamsin was lonely. Lauren had never thought about her in that way. But then Tamsin's expression withered away like dust during rain.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Trust me on this."

Lauren gave a short, bitter laugh. "Why on earth should I do that? I have absolutely no reason to."

Tamsin bent forward lazily. Her fingers casually traced intricate patterns on the table. She didn't look away from Lauren's eyes, though, not once. The light in her eyes changed again. They glinted dangerously in the bright morning sunshine, and her sweet grin displayed her white teeth, like baring them casually. "You're going to anyways."

And she was right. Lauren stood up. "I'm going to call Bo. Maybe we can figure something out about these Berserks."

"I'm going to get the sphere." Before Lauren could stop her, Tamsin had jumped up as well and rushed up the stairs. She sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Bo was still the most called contact on her list.

She picked up almost immediately.

"Morning, ba- Lauren!" Bo sounded happy.

"Hi Bo," Lauren answered. "Where are you?"

"It's nice to hear your voice again," the succubus breathed into her cell phone, before resuming her normal tone. "Funny, I just wanted to call you as well. Please don't be mad at me, but I am in your street right now."

Lauren frowned.

"I wanted to surprise you with taking you out for breakfast," Lauren felt a pang of guilt as her eyes fell on the remains of her breakfast on the kitchen table, "but now I've been sitting in my car for a while, watching your place. There are some suspicious looking guys in front of your door."


	11. Chapter 11

AN: A huge thank you to you all for your reviews! I'm going to explore Tamsin's backstory even more in this and the next chapter, as well as her and Lauren's dynamic. And how Bo reacts to all this…

XI

Tamsin was back in an instant. Her saunter had turned into rushing. "What the hell is this?!"

She was holding the sphere in her hands. It shimmered black, completely void of every color, not even silver. Lauren had never seen it like this before. However, at the moment other issues seemed to be more important to her. Like the deadly Fae attempting to break in.

Lauren pressed the phone to her shoulder to cover the sound of their discussion. "This is not the right moment, there –"

"I don't care," Tamsin interrupted her, "What on earth have you done?!" She stormed towards Lauren, waving the sphere.

Bo's voice sounded muffled through the receiver. "Who is this, Lauren, who are you talking to?"

Lauren tried to calm Tamsin down. "I have no idea, but we really –"

"It's _black!_"

"I have eyes as well," Lauren snapped back, raising her other hand to hush Tamsin.

Bo got increasingly agitated. "Lauren!"

"Do you think it's supposed to look like this?!" Tamsin was just getting started.

"_Tamsin_," - "_What?!"_ came from the other end of the phone line - Lauren grabbed for the sphere to stop the Valkyrie's gesticulations, "Tamsin, there are Berserks in front of the house."

Finally, the Dark Fae shut up. The silence didn't last long, though.

A faint crashing sound echoed through the room, coming from the entrance door into the house, several floors below them. It resonated in the staircase. Without uttering a sound Tamsin mouthed, very distinctly, "Fuck".

The sphere in the other hand, she grabbed Lauren's elbow and pulled her, already sprinting, towards the other end of the room. She was fleeing, as fast as her feet could carry her, or at least as fast as Lauren could keep up.

Before hanging up and putting it in her back pocket again, the doctor yelled into her phone "We're coming down!"

"Is there any other way out?" Tamsin asked calmly. Her voice was steady again, concentrated on their escape. But her eyes betrayed her; they were glinting with an explosive mixture of anger and fear. Lauren bit her lip.

"Up, over the roof." Lauren was equally focused, though her heart started racing. If they could reach the fire escape staircase…

They rushed up the stairs, down the narrow hallway, through Lauren's bedroom, when they heard the door of the apartment splintering. With one swift movement Lauren opened the window at the far end of the room. Before realizing what she was doing, Lauren was already sitting on the window ledge, her legs dangling outside. A light breeze started playing with her hair. The sunlight hit her eyes.

Then her hands clung to the wooden frame. This was way higher than she had thought. Tamsin almost had to push her through the window, before she followed the human without the slightest hesitation. With a little bit of luck they'd be searching the apartment first before realizing that the human and the Fae had escaped. They heard something breaking in the living room.

Tamsin said quietly "I knew it, we should have left yesterday evening", but Lauren wasn't sure whether that was meant for her ears at all. Instead, she focused on the task in front of her.

Her feet found the surface of the roof and, very carefully, started slithering down towards the rainwater gutter. It wasn't particularly steep, but slippery. Her steps were clumsy. She had to bend down to steady herself with her hands. Tamsin on the other hand had no trouble with her balance. She held the sphere tightly pressed against her chest. It was glinting, pitch black in the sudden bright sunlight.

Lauren came to a halt a few feet below the Valkyrie and drew in a deep breath, scanning their surroundings.

Her own flat was the top one in the apartment block; this was why they could reach the roof from her bedroom. Not that she had done that ever before. The building itself was old, though, and the sloping roof was the highest in the neighborhood. Her bedroom was on the back of the building, so the traffic noise wouldn't reach it. They had to get away from it as soon as possible or the Berserks would see them immediately if they entered the room. They were already demolishing the living room, probably searching for hideouts. They had no idea that they had been warned, after all.

Lauren and Tamsin were facing a deep ravine where the house ended and the small back lane begun. If they wanted to get to the fire escape stairs, they had to circle the roof, along the rain gutter. So Lauren started moving along the edge of the building, always one hand on the dark roof tiles. Her blood was pumping pure adrenaline through her veins. It allowed her to stay clear-headed even though her heart was racing so fast and loud she thought that sound alone would betray them to the Berserks hunting for them. She swallowed.

Naturally, Lauren thought that Tamsin had the same plan and would follow her to the fire escape.

She didn't, of course.

At the beginning she was right behind Lauren, muttering "Careful" from time to time when Lauren placed her foot on a particular slippery roof tile and steadying her with her free hand, until they hurriedly reached the first corner, where the building bordered on a newer, smaller one. Its roof was even, flat concrete. When she couldn't hear the steps behind her anymore Lauren threw a glance back at Tamsin. With one foot already on the very edge of the sloping roof, the Valkyrie was studying the other one, a couple of feet underneath them. The height didn't bother her at all. She still held the sphere clutched to her chest, but her other hand rested on her hip and she even leant forward, over the edge. Lauren didn't like the look on her face at all.

Then her head snapped back up, towards the window they had left open as Lauren just realized.

"It's not that high", she said to Lauren, smirking, before she took a leap forward.

Lauren nearly cried out. But the Valkyrie landed safely, crouched down and even made a roll forward to decrease the momentum of the jump. All the time she was in control of her muscular, agile body. Despite the untidy clothes she had slept in and with her disheveled hair, she looked graceful, Lauren thought.

Dusting off her shirt she stood up again and hurried back to Lauren. Impatiently she held her hand up towards the human.

"Come on!"

Lauren stared at her disbelievingly. "I am not going to jump down there, that's more than two meters!"

"Do it like you did before, sit down with your legs over the edge, then it's just a little jump. But be quick about it, we don't have much time," Tamsin urged. She stretched her hand even more towards Lauren.

The human cursed under her breath. Fine, she was going to get down there somehow, but she was definitely not doing it Tamsin's way. She crouched down as well, turned around with her back to the edge so she didn't have to look down, clutched the rain gutter tightly, and swung her legs over the edge. Immediately, she pressed her feet against the wall to support herself. Inch by inch, she let her feet slide down the wall. Now she was kind of dangling from the roof, but her soles were almost halfway down the way. She let go of the dangerously creaking rain gutter, even pushed herself away a little, and landed next to Tamsin, who helped her up. Not nearly as elegant as the Valkyrie, but at least she hadn't broken her leg.

Tamsin looked at her with a smile and grabbed her elbow again. "Good, but we have to get going."

They ran across the roof to what looked like a small shack. It seemed to be the top end of the stairways of the building they were standing on. Lauren had to admit, this was way quicker than balancing on the other roof to find the fire escape.

Tamsin rattled at the door. It was locked. "Damnit", she sighed, "Why on earth would you lock the door to the roof?"

"Need a key?" A voice behind them asked. They whirled back around. Fear finally caught up with Lauren, sending her into another adrenaline rush. She noticed the cold sweat on her forehead for the first time.

There they came, three fully grown Berserks, flexing their muscles. Lauren took a step back. All three of them wore shabby black leather jackets and were grinning maliciously. They approached like a wolf pack, mirroring each other's movements. But it wasn't proud like Dyson's walk when he hunted, but brutish. They had exactly the same height, their hair had the same color of muddy brown, even their faces looked alike. In less than a minute they had covered all the distance Tamsin's and Lauren's head start had gained them. And they hadn't even made a sound when they jumped down the roof.

The closer they came the more Lauren noticed how bloodshot their eyes were.

She could feel how Tamsin tensed up. The Valkyrie couldn't help but sneer back, though. "The four paws! Oh wait, no, there seems to be one missing."

The faces of the two ones on the side turned into glaring masks of anger. But the Berserk in the middle kept on smiling. Or at least what he considered smiling.

"Tamsin, let me tell you something", he said sweetly, "You fucked up, honey." His voice was thick with a Nordic accent. Lauren couldn't place it more exactly, though.

"Again," added another one.

Now it was Tamsin who got angry, Lauren could hear it in her voice. "Until now you're not particularly successful either."

"Well, that has just changed hasn't it?" One of them said while another added, "I mean, it does indicate something that he had to send us after you."

"If that's meant as a compliment, it's not working," Tamsin said.

"You were his favorite, you know. And now you've made him just very, very angry."

Lauren had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. But she was hoping that they kept on doing this for a while. Tamsin had no chance of fighting three Berserks at once, and she also left her belt with the gun in Lauren's flat.

The three Fae came to halt just a few feet away from them, still talking to each other. Tamsin had fallen silent.

"I would have killed to see you like this, with your back against a wall, hair all messy, and about to lose more than you have ever gained in your many life times. You've changed a lot in this one." His eyes glinted viciously.

"We did kill to get here."

"Oh, yes, I remember, that other Valkyrie bitch, what was her name?"

"Anastasia?"

"Acacia", Tamsin growled at the chuckling Berserks.

"That was a Fae to my liking…" More ugly laughter.

"Oh, the Light's pet is here as well!" Suddenly the eyes of the two Fae on the sides fell on Lauren. The way they studied her gave her goose bumps.

Tamsin stepped in front of her.

"The human bitch that tried to shoot me," the one on the right laughed. "Are you trying to steal another human, Valkyrie?"

The one on the left joined his snickering. "That didn't work out the last time, did it?"

Tamsin growled and bent forward. In the way her posture changed Lauren could see that she was beginning to use her powers.

"Don't do that," said the Berserk in the middle, "You're just forcing us to do something unpleasant."

He was probably the one Tamsin had interrogated, Lauren thought.

But the Valkyrie didn't back off. She was hiding the sphere behind her back. The Berserks hadn't noticed it yet. Slowly, she held out her hand towards Lauren. The human understood immediately, and, without looking down and attracting the Berserks attention, took it softly out of Tamsin's hand. It was only then, when their fingers brushed for a split second, that she noticed that the Valkyrie was shaking faintly, not visible to Lauren's or anyone's eyes, and yet Lauren felt her hands tremble.

The three Fae didn't pay any attention to her. They were completely distracted by Tamsin. The closer Lauren watched the more their shapes seemed to blur somehow.

And Lauren remembered what she had read about them. When they fought in packs some of them, the most powerful, could turn into beasts, like shapeshifters. She took another step back. Tamsin followed her without taking her eyes from the Berserks. She was never going to be able to stop them on her own. They needed help. Lauren's thoughts were racing through her head.

Carefully, her free hand slipped into her pocket. While the Berserks started to spread out, to circle them, and Tamsin pushed Lauren further back, she pressed last number redial and decreased the volume. Lauren could just hold the phone and hope.

She waited a couple of seconds, and then she spoke up. Her voice trembled and she had to clear her throat. She had absolutely no idea what to say, though. The first thing that came to her mind was "What do you want from us? We haven't done anything to you."

The Berserks laughed again. It sounded like rasping metal. "She hasn't told you?"

Even Tamsin hissed at her. "What are you doing?!"

Then Lauren said very clearly "I mean we are on the roof of the building next to my apartment. I think I deserve an answer. And I'm Light, they are not going to like this at all. This is still Light territory."

The three Fae started howling at the same time.

"Light?! Do you think we are concerned by petty Light and Dark politics?"

"We could rip your pretty little head off, give it to your owner on a silver plate, ask for compensation for our trouble and we'd get it with gratitude."

"What a great idea!"

"You have indeed sunk deeply, _Tams_."

The last one was the nearest of the Berserks, just a few steps away. Tamsin snapped at him before he could attempt to get behind their back. "One step closer and I'll blind you."

Lauren shrunk further back. Tamsin grabbed her arm and pulled her towards her. They were almost touching by now, Tamsin focusing on the two Fae on their left while Lauren didn't take her eyes off the third one and hid the sphere in between them.

Then a low rustle started filling the air like a light breeze. But it wasn't wind, it was something completely different, like a room full of people whispering, and still the breath of air started playing with both Tamsin's and Lauren's hair. Tamsin's powers grew and held the other Fae at bay for a while. But in the pack they weren't as affected. They kept distracting Tamsin from one Berserk in particular, so she couldn't focus her powers on a single one long enough to drive him fully away.

Instead, they started circling the two women quicker and quicker. If they fell into a rage they would shift and turn into bears or wolves or wild bulls. Tamsin and Lauren were still standing in front of the locked staircase, so at least their back was protected somewhat. But still, the Berserks were coming closer and closer.

Bo took longer than Lauren had hoped.

And then, she came, just when Lauren was beginning to think that it was too late. Lauren heard footsteps, running, behind the door of the shack, and then the door was kicked in and flew through the air. It clattered to the concrete floor, startling the Berserks. Even Tamsin flinched. Lauren placed her hand on the Valkyrie's upper arm – Lauren didn't know why, it seemed to be the right thing to do, or it was just a reflex – and turned around, towards the succubus.

Her eyes were burning blue. Her power flickered around her like electricity in a storm, blowing her hair in the sudden wind. Lauren had never seen the succubus in her like this. She looked like she was going to tear the whole building apart.

"Say that again." She hissed with so much anger in her voice that Lauren had trouble recognizing her.

"What?" The Berserk sounded alarmed.

"That you're going to rip her head off." She stepped forward. "Say it again, and I will flay you alive."

The Berserks recovered quickly, though. "It seems like we have a very lucky day!"

"Both of them at once," added another one of them. "Looks like we can finish the job today."

"But we should take this one alive us, for whatever reason," said the third Berserk.

Bo looked confused for a moment. "Take me? Alive?"

One of them crouched down. "Yeah, like this." And then he attacked her.

Tamsin was quicker. Before he could reach Bo Tamsin had flung herself into his path, crashing into his side and sending the two of them rolling over the concrete. Bo took this as the invitation to join the fight. Her red leather jacket was a red lighting that flashed past Lauren quicker than she could look as Bo hurled herself at the two other Fae. Both of them were ready for her, and still she had no trouble driving them back, away from Lauren. She wasn't even carrying a weapon.

In the meantime Tamsin had jumped up again and covered her Berserk with punches to his temples, throat and liver, as far as Lauren could judge. She spun and whirled around him, too fast for him to keep up with. This was the first time Lauren saw the Valkyrie in her Fae form, even if it was for just an instant. Her face turned into something that resembled a darkened skull, and her eyes became two pitch black –

The sphere. Lauren had nearly forgotten about it. She still held it in front of her stomach, her phone in the other hand. She quickly put that away. Lauren looked away for just a second, trying to think what she could do with the sphere, when the fight around Bo changed suddenly.

Bo had just wrapped her hands around the throat of one of the Berserks, who was already kneeling, to suck the Chi out of him, when the second one, who was crouching on the floor, holding his head, started to growl dangerously. Bo's head turned around. Her eyes were flaring blue, still with cold fury. A low rumble escaped her throat and she bared her teeth. She gripped the Fae's neck so tightly that his face was turning blue already without her deathly kiss.

Then the Berserk on the floor exploded. Or at least it looked like it.

At first he seemed to swell rapidly. His already think neck and muscles increased enormously in size while he stood up. The ripping sound of his clothes bursting was drowned by his roaring. In a heartbeat brown fur started erupting from his bare chest and back and arms and every single bit of skin. He threw his head back, while his jaw was elongated into a snout, and opened his mouth to reveal huge, razor sharp canine teeth, larger than Lauren had ever seen. On his massive paws long claws shimmered in the sunlight. Lauren was clutching the sphere so tightly her fingernails would have left marks on it if it had been anything else but purified energy.

In another heartbeat a gigantic brown bear was towering over Bo. He looked down at her, squinting his vicious, yellow eyes and foaming at the mouth. A low rumble started in his chest. Slowly, Bo let go of the second Berserk, withdrawing to Lauren's side. He fell to floor at first and then started to shift as well.

Lauren never got the chance to see what he turned into. The gigantic bear dropped to his feet and started charging at them, an avalanche of monster teeth and muscles. In that moment Tamsin reappeared in her vision. She shoved both the human and the succubus down the staircase. "Run!" she yelled at them.

And they did. The basically flew down the stairs, not once looking back. Bo in the front, Lauren in the middle, Tamsin in the back.

Sometime Bo's hand found Lauren's. Both of them clung tightly to each other while the sounds of running and growling animals above them hunted them on their escape. Lauren's only hope was that the staircase was too narrow to allow the Berserks in their current form to be as fast as the women.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the stairs and ran out of the house. All three of them jumped into Bo's car. Without a second glance back, Bo started the engine and sent the car flying down the road, just when Lauren saw a bear's head appearing in the doorway. Luckily, no one else seemed to be on the street at the moment.

They drove for a couple of minutes, until their heartbeats had slowed down enough to allow them to talk. Lauren was sitting next to Bo. She was relieved when she saw her eyes had become dark brown again. For one second Bo raised a hand from the steering wheel and laid it gently on Lauren's knee, as to reassure her that she was really there and alright. The touch was so soft and quick that Lauren nearly didn't notice it, if she hadn't been watching the succubus.

"Saving your ass is turning into a habit, Tamsin," Bo said darkly.

Tamsin laughed so hard everyone stared at her. "I'm –, "she desperately tried to catch her breath again, "You have no idea, really."

"And what are we going to do now?" Lauren asked.

"Calling Trick and Dyson?"

Tamsin had calmed down enough to answer. "We could call them, but at the moment I'd rather get a couple of miles between us and those Berserks. They'll be on the hunt and I don't want to lead them to the Dal. Or your place, Bo, for that matter. They'd find us and rip us apart while we sleep."

"Oh God," Lauren murmured. "My apartment." The realization dawned on her that she had just lost it to the Berserks like Tamsin had lost her house. "No," she groaned, rubbing her temples.

"Could anyone please be so kind and explain to me what the _hell _this just was? What did they want from us? Who were they?" Bo's exclamation made Tamsin chuckle again. She didn't say anything, though, but slouched on the backseat. She was already angering Bo, as Lauren noticed.

So she tried to prompt her in answering Bo. "Remnants from Tamsin's past, I think. But I guess she should explain that herself."

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "Long story. I pissed someone off, as usual."

Bo was not happy with that explanation. Not at all. "What did they want from me then? And-", she threw a questioning glance towards Lauren, "why were you there?"

The sphere was resting in Lauren's lap, still black. Now she held it up. "Tamsin gave me something to look at, and I tried to help her with that. Turns out, I shouldn't have."

Tamsin sat up immediately. "That's not for your succubus eyes. Give the staen back to me."

Lauren didn't. "You should be grateful that I hid it from the Berserks."

"Yeah, thank you very much. What a hard job you had to do there. Now hand it back."

"Did you ever think about the possibility that you might just give it back to whomever it really belongs and hope that they leave us alone if they have it back?"

"Jesus, Lauren, it's not that easy!"

"Is it?"

"He is after much more than just the sphere!"

"But it could be a start! It's not helping anyways at the moment."

"Did you forget what it did after I first met the Berserks?!"

Bo followed their exchange curiously while the car sped down the highway. "I don't want to interrupt you or anything, but what do you suggest for now?"

"We drive out of town, find a nice motel where we can spend the rest of the day and maybe the night to regroup. I need a place to shower anyways." Tamsin answered immediately.

"And then we try to attack them again?!"

"Well, somehow we have to get rid of them. And as you might have noticed, they are above Dark and Light alliances, so we can't hope for support from anyone else. Well, maybe Dyson if you ask him nicely, Bo."

Bo clenched her teeth. "I'll drive to a diner or a motel. There we can eat lunch and plan further."

Even though Bo was practically burning with questions, they spent the rest of the drive in silence. Luckily, no one of them was seriously injured. But Lauren threw a glance in the mirror once to see Tamsin swipe away blood from the corner of her mouth.

…

Finally, they found something nice, very remote, without many other guests, where they could hide for the moment. Tamsin was fairly sure that the Berserks couldn't follow the car, but they had probably some connections in the town, so it was safer to stay away from every place where other Fae could lurk at the moment. As soon as they had eaten, and Bo hoped for more explanations, Lauren was sure about that, they'd call Kenzi and Dyson and tell them what happened. They probably had to spend the night here, after all, both Lauren's and Tamsin's place were out of question and Bo was too well known. They were probably watching her flat right now.

The motel was small, with a cheap restaurant just on the opposite side of the street. Bo parked the car and went inside to ask for room prizes.

Lauren and Tamsin were left in the car. Both of them stared out of the window. But the human seized the opportunity to ask Tamsin the questions she had on her mind. Maybe she could get answers now, after what had just happened to them. "What are they really looking for? Why Bo?"

But of course, the Valkyrie didn't say a word.

"You are running from something, Tamsin. I know the signs of that." Lauren turned around to her.

"I don't run. And why do you think I'd tell you?" Tamsin's green eyes met hers. For once, she wasn't smirking but looking tired.

"Because I'm neck deep in your mess and you might as well tell if we're stuck here together anyways."

"I think it's better if I don't."

"I don't care about what you think anymore. They tried to kill us. I just want to know why!" Lauren was exhausted. She knew she was pushing too far, but she didn't care right now. Her outburst earned her a frown from Tamsin.

"They didn't try to kill you, the tried to kill me and catch Bo."

"So you've run all the way from Norway to here to escape them? Where you stumbled across Bo by accident, someone they are also interested in? For some obscure reason? Don't try to fool me, Tamsin. Something tells me you're lying about everything."

The Valkyrie closed her eyes, laid her head on the headrest and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her voice was getting cold again, cold and dangerously low. Lauren would have liked to see her eyes right now. "Careful now, Lauren."

"_Careful?_ You're the one talking in riddles and driving everyone crazy! I'm beginning to think that you came to me with you sphere because I'm the only one you could play those kind of tricks on." Lauren turned back around, away from the Valkyrie. "I'm so stupid. For a moment, I really wanted to help you."

Suddenly Tamsin laughed bitterly. "Don't try that. Don't try to guilt trip me."

Lauren could hear how she sat up again and bent forward until her head was nearly on Lauren's shoulder. If Lauren hadn't backed away, Tamsin would have hissed the next words right into her ear. Still, she could feel her breath on her cheek. Tamsin's voice was dripping with venom.

"What makes you think that would work? Do you think there is something special about you because I nearly fingerbanged you once in your flat?"

Lauren froze, still looking through the windshield with Tamsin's words in her ear. They made her feel sick. Why on earth had she pushed her that far?

She wanted to jump out of the car and get away as quickly as possible. She knew somehow she had hit Tamsin close to home and now she was trying to give it back. And of course, Bo's and her relationship was Lauren's most vulnerable spot. Tamsin knew that well enough.

The Valkyrie was lashing out at her with everything she had. Lauren knew it and Tamsin knew that Lauren knew and she did it anyways and it hurt ten times worse. But Lauren was not going to give up now.

She had seen many layers of the Valkyrie, each time thinking that the one she was seeing was the bottom one, and each time she had been wrong. But this time she was one hundred per cent sure that this was Tamsin's way of reacting to everyone who started to dig deeper, not her real self. And that made Lauren even angrier, behind the hollow emptiness Tamsin's words left in her. Everyone had secrets – she herself had a past she wanted no one to know about, not even Bo. Especially not Bo. That didn't mean, though, that she treated everyone like shit.

"Maybe I just wanted to see what would get a succubus into monogamy," Tamsin hissed. Then she sat back again and resumed her usual sneering. "Just don't talk to me about lying. You know nothing about me."

"You are saying that to _me?" _Lauren yelled. She was shaking with anger by now. "_You_ are the one who runs."

"At least I didn't end up with a comatose girlfriend and collar around my neck, chaining me to a laboratory!"

"Don't you dare." How on earth did Tamsin know this?

"Nor did I end up with a dead girlfriend, or lying to myself about a succubus, or as a succubus' pet."

"_Don't you dare _compare this to my relationship with Bo. You don't have the right nor _any_ idea whatsoever. For the record, she was the first one who tried to free me from the Light!"

"Free yourself, Lauren. That's the point of freedom."

With that she opened the door of the car and was about to leave when Lauren shot at her icily "If you leave now, I'll take your goddamn staen and throw it into the next waste water canal."

In the mirror she could see that Tamsin threw a murderous glance at her. But she remained in her seat and slammed the door shut. A minute passed in silence. Both of them calmed down a bit.

"Look," Tamsin said finally, "I'm really trying to make things easier."

A small laugh escaped Lauren. "You have nerves, saying that."

Suddenly Tamsin hit the driver's seat in front of her with both hands. "Damnit, Lauren."

The human didn't reply.

Tamsin buried her face in her hands and groaned. Just when she whispered "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have said all that, it's just that -" and the words were about to start flowing out of her, Bo came back, with a huge smile on her lips.


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks again for your wonderful reviews! This chapter is longer than I wanted it to be but there is a lot of important stuff happening... The next one will be shorter, though, I promise.

XII

Lauren's head rested against the window of the car. The sphere in her lap had adopted the grey colour of silvered ash, like the hazy sky above them. It was bleak. She thought she could smell rain.

Her fingers traced the sphere absent mindedly while her eyes wandered over the changing landscape behind the window of Bo's car. She had no idea where they were driving. And they had been on the road for at least three hours now. From the faint sunlight streaming through the clouds Lauren could vaguely judge the cardinal direction, they were driving north, but Tamsin just said "somewhere safe" whenever she was asked anything definite about their destination.

On the backseat Bo had closed her eyes, attempting to sleep, and not broken her sullen silence since she had gotten into the car.

The atmosphere in it was toxic.

Tamsin drove fast, even faster than Bo had, and followed narrow roads through forests, or hills, or fields. The streets were sandy. In the wing mirror Lauren could see a cloud of dust following their car. They rarely met other travelers, not to mention houses, or other signs of civilization for that matter. Tamsin's gaze stayed on the road in front of her. She seemed to know exactly where they were, though. Sometimes, when green trees flittered past the car and turned into a swirling dark wall up close to the side window, Lauren caught a glimpse of her reflection in it. She found herself studying Tamsin's profile. In the last hours she had turned their argument from before over and over in her head. A part of her was still angry with the Valkyrie. She had been manipulative and unfair in every single respect. Lauren hated the way she turned her alignment with the Fae – and her relationship with Bo – into something bad. As if she had a choice regarding the Light. Tamsin was Dark herself; she obviously followed someone's orders as well. She had no right to lecture her about "freedom". But their argument nagged at her.

And the way she had talked about their kiss – Lauren still had trouble referring to that experience as _kissing_; that she had _kissed Tamsin _– was outright degrading. She wished she could just get her words out of her system, like the taste of Tamsin's lips on hers, or how her body had pressed against hers, or her fingers running through her hair. Lauren frowned involuntarily.

But the point was that Tamsin was hiding something and she had been very close to telling Lauren.

Until Bo had interrupted.

In her head Lauren reran the conversation the three of them had before, at the motel.

As soon as the succubus reappeared Tamsin had shut her mouth tightly. Coming towards the car, Bo had held her phone up and grinned broadly, oblivious to what she had just cut off. "Good news, Lauren! Kenzi just called, she and Dyson have been in your apartment. Everything seems to be alright. Some things are broken, but not much. And no Fae in sight."

Then Lauren had felt a huge weight dropping from her shoulders. A wide smile had spread on her face, warming her voice. "Thank you, Bo."

She had feared that the Berserks would tear her apartment to shreds, or set fire to it, like they had to Tamsin's house. At her home office upstairs Lauren kept duplicates of Fae records, files, artifacts, equipment, and most importantly, her notes of different Fae species. She had collected them over the years and kept track of everything she had stumbled across. The information stored there was beyond measure. If she'd lost it she could have started her work from scratch again. And Lauren had feared the worst.

She felt sincerely grateful towards Bo for making sure that it was still there. And for knowing – remembering – how much Lauren cared about this. This was the first good thing she had heard today.

Holding her gaze, Bo had nodded. "Of course."

While they had exchanged these couple of words, Tamsin had frowned and gotten out of the car, resting her folded arms on the roof of it. "How the hell did you find us that fast anyways?"

"Lauren called me. I came."

A warm feeling had filled Lauren's chest at Bo's words.

"What else did the human say? Did she see them?" Tamsin had asked.

"Kenzi? No, she and Dyson left right again to drive to the Dal. They are waiting for us there." With that Bo had put her phone away again and had stepped towards the car. "It's going to be safe there with them. I'll drive us back."

But Tamsin had been on the driver's side of the car already. Quicker than the succubus, she had slipped behind the steering wheel before Lauren had realized what was going on.

Bo had been equally perplexed, and then angry. "Get out of my car."

"Or what?" Looking past Lauren straight into Bo's eyes, Tamsin had smirked and started the engine, since Bo had left the key in the car, "I know their tricks. If they left Dyson and Kenzi alone they were waiting for them, to lead them directly to us. If we drive to Dal they'll get us before we can order the first drink. As long as we don't show up there they will be safe." She had thrown a glance at Lauren, who was now sitting right next to her. "And I definitely want to get tanked tonight without any incidents."

For a moment Bo had looked like she was going to physically kick Tamsin out of the driver's seat. But the Valkyrie made sense, sadly. Berserks were skilled hunters. They could wait for their prey patiently. They had tasted blood after all. And at the moment, they were not strong enough to face them on their own.

"Fancy a road trip?"

"I thought we'd stay here!"

Tamsin had sighed heavily. "It was a stupid plan. I changed my mind. I know a better place. Where we can reload our armory." She raised her eyebrows speculatively at Bo. "Since you don't seem to have anything at hand?"

"Okay, that's it. I'm out of here." Bo had been about to turn on her heels and stomp back inside, probably to call Dyson to pick her up.

"Bo!" Lauren had called after her. "It's our best shot at solving this as quickly as possible."

Bo's dark eyes had met hers for a long moment. Most of all there had been anger in them, and Lauren feared that the succubus would do something stupid out of sheer stubbornness. Lauren had tried to look as persuasive as possible. Finally Bo had thrown her hands in the air and exclaimed "Fine!"

Lauren hadn't watched the Valkyrie in that moment, but, nonetheless, she had been able to physically feel Tamsin's smug grin spreading on her face. She had been close to say or do something stupid as well, just to wipe it off the her face again. Tamsin headed the car further away from the city. Lauren suspected that she had planned to drive wherever she was going now all along.

But not just their positions in the car had changed. Step by step Tamsin had taken the lead. Now Bo, the former savior of Lauren and the Valkyrie, had to follow her. Clearly, she didn't like it.

Lauren tried to stay clear of those power games, but she feared that sooner or later she would have to choose a side.

In that moment, a strange feeling of heat brought Lauren back to where she was. Right now the car was climbing a particular steep and twisted road, but for some reason Tamsin didn't seem to think that that was a reason to slow down.

Lauren concentrated on herself. The odd sensation started in her stomach and spread throughout her whole body. Lauren stirred in her seat, yawning. Her temples started throbbing softly. Something made her feel uneasy and restless, like she needed something, she just couldn't figure out what it was. She shook her head. Tamsin threw a short glance at her, out of the corner of her eyes, and then in the rear mirror.

"Stop it, Bo", she drawled.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry", came the mumbled answer from the backseat. The phone with which Bo had apparently kept track of their route had fallen out of her hand on the seat beside her. She sat up.

Lauren looked up, confused. The feeling vanished as quickly as it had come. "What was that?"

Tamsin didn't look at her, but said somewhat angrily "Bo used her powers on you."

Lauren turned around to the succubus. "What? But you didn't touch me. That's impossible."

Bo's smile at her was uneasy. "A couple of weeks ago I would have agreed with you."

"What happened right now?"

"I dozed off and I – I was thinking about you. I'm so sorry, normally I have it under control." Her voice trailed off.

"That's not what Dyson says," Tamsin threw in.

"Tamsin!" Bo hissed.

"Oh, I don't see any reason why Lauren shouldn't know about this. I thought she was your doctor?"

What? Lauren needed time to process this. Now she could explain the sensation, though. It had felt like a strange longing. Maybe it was just that she hadn't looked at Bo in that moment. But what did Tamsin mean? Dyson? "What are you two talking about? Why didn't you tell me this, Bo?"

Bo became defensive. Her voice rose. "I would have! And it's not me who keeps secrets lately. I still don't know what you two have been up to!"

Tamsin just laughed.

Lauren drew in a deep breath and held her hands up. "Bo, you need to tell me more about this. Please. Any change of your Fae abilities is important."

Bo shot a murderous glance at Tamsin. But, reluctantly, she began to explain. "It's just that lately I can… affect people from afar. It's not nearly as effective as touching them, but it works. With a lot of effort. But only with people I know well, not with everyone."

Because she faced Bo on the backseat Lauren was closer to Tamsin than before. Their elbows were nearly touching. She could hear her chuckle softly, and was hundred percent sure that she was smirking. But she ignored the Valkyrie to focus on Bo.

The succubus looked up at Lauren apologetically. "I am sorry. I would have told you, really."

Lauren needed time to think about this. Bo's powers increased each day and she hadn't noticed how much. Now she felt sorry herself. She had spent too much time on the sphere and too little with Bo. She had come to her for help as well, after all.

Tamsin didn't like being ignored, though. So she sneered "And my partner was the first one to experience the new won abilities, wasn't he?"

Lauren flinched slightly, she couldn't help it. Of course Dyson would. Somehow she found it hard to breathe for a second. She clenched her teeth and pulled herself together. But Bo had already noticed her reaction. The way Tamsin punched the shift into a higher gear showed that she had as well.

"Can you shut up for once?" Bo snapped, glaring at the back of Tamsin's head. "That's none of your business."

When she looked back at Lauren her brown eyes were soft again. "I just kind of drifted right now. I swear I have never lost control of it until now. It's just that you were so close and I was falling asleep…"

The implications of this new development were bad. That Bo's power grew beyond her control worried Lauren. As well as the fact that she thought about her before she fell asleep. "We need to take a look at this as soon as we're back at my lab, okay?"

"Okay." Bo's voice was faint, she sounded really unhappy.

Lauren turned towards Tamsin and spoke to her for the first time since their argument. "How long until we're there? Wherever you are driving us?"

"Not much longer. Maybe an hour." Her reply was short and unemotional.

Lauren curled up on her seat and tried to forget Bo's lips and Tamsin's hands imprinted in her memory. She looked out of the window again.

…

When they reached the house Lauren thought she had fallen asleep. They had driven through the forest again, for quite some time, and the sun had finally broken through the clouds, so when their road emerged from the trees light hit her eyes. She stirred and sat up.

Tamsin steered the car up a smooth slope towards a rather wrecked looking cottage. It sat high above them on a small hill. The timber frame and log house definitely needed a lot of renovation. The weather beaten wood had lost its original colour. A couple of roof tiles seemed loose, or missing altogether. One of the front windows had been smashed in. Rampant weeds sprawled around it, already beginning to climb the walls like ivy, just from the wrong direction. A couple of lilac wildflowers speckled the grass. The house itself was big, though, and could surely look nice. However, that would need a lot of time and effort.

Tamsin parked in front of the veranda. When they left the car Lauren thought she could faintly hear water, waves crashing against stone. They had driven for a long time, Lauren wondered where they were.

Gravel crunched under their feet as they approached the cottage. Lauren and Bo remained standing in front of it, but Tamsin went on, circling the house. Bo was already beginning to complain about the broken roof, when Tamsin called for them to follow her. As they stepped around the corner Lauren had to stop short, astonished by what she saw. The view was breathtaking.

The hill turned out to be a cliff, high above Lake Huron, Lauren guessed. They hadn't been able to see it before. The water spread out underneath them, until it met the horizon in the distance. The coast was magnificent. Trees lined rocky beaches and, occasionally, cliffs like the one they were standing on. Dots of yellow and brown dappled the forest where deciduous trees mingled with the conifers. Their tops swayed softly in the wind that drove the waves of the lake against the cliff. The strikingly blue water glinted where the waves rippled its surface in the sunlight. Birds soared and circled over the lake. It was utterly peaceful. Lauren took in a deep breath.

Tamsin smiled back at the women taking in the view. Her expression was genuine. "Do you want to come in?"

She climbed two stairs at the side of the cottage and entered through a back door that didn't look as unused as the front of the house. Bo and Lauren followed her after a couple of seconds. And indeed, the inside of the house was completely different from the outside. At least the part in the back. If anyone had looked in through the front windows they'd never guessed that three rooms on the other side of the house served as a proper hide out for bad days.

The pine hard wood furniture and the slate floor were dusty, though. No one had been here for a while. White blankets were thrown over the big pieces of furniture. Tamsin and Bo pulled them away while Lauren opened the windows to let fresh air in. They were standing in a living room with two big couches and several armchairs, bookshelves along the walls and a big oak table in the middle. Chests and trunks were piled on top of each other in one corner.

The windows opened up to the lake. Lauren remained in front of them, looking out.

"It's fantastic. How did you find this?" Bo asked.

Tamsin chuckled. "It wasn't easy. But if you have to vanish for a couple of days you get creative."

While Bo and Lauren explored the rest of the house, Tamsin went out again to fetch the sphere from the car.

"So, this is it?" Bo asked when they were alone.

"This is what?"

"What we do. Trust the Dark Valkyrie to fight Berserks. Being pushed around by her." Bo answered with a playful undertone in her voice.

Lauren turned around and sighed, looking at Bo. The succubus watched her through her dark lashes, a crooked smile playing with her lips. Her dark hair spilled down over her shoulders. Where the sunrays fell through the windows dust particles danced in the light around her. She looked gorgeous, as usual. Lauren couldn't help but smile at her. "I guess so."

They went on in the next room, a small kitchen with cupboards filled with loads of durable food, cans, and boxes. There was no electricity to run a fridge or oven, but Lauren thought she had seen a fireplace outside behind the house.

"What is this sphere thing anyways?" Bo asked, looking into a small storage room.

"A device for storing energy. I hope we can use it against the Berserks, if we can find out how it works."

Bo came back to Lauren and lifted her eyebrows. "You don't know? I'm surprised."

Lauren grinned and rolled her eyes jokingly. "There has been some progress already."

"Has there?"

"Well, considering the fact that it took me days, I risked getting into serious trouble, which I am doing right now as well by the way, and I had to flee from Fae breaking into my house by climbing over rooftops, the breakthrough does seem somewhat small. It changed colour."

"Oh, really!" Bo laughed. "But it has one good aspect. You're here with me." Her tone was still playful but Lauren could detect the sincerity underneath it.

Suddenly Lauren understood why Bo hadn't objected more to Tamsin's behavior. She just wanted to be with Lauren. Bo's eyes rested for a moment on her pulse point. "Oh god, Lauren, I missed this," she whispered.

"Just try and don't succubus me from afar again, okay?"

Bo smiled. "Alright, Doc, as you wish. Tell me if you change your mind, though."

Lauren turned around to hide her grin. She knew she should draw a line but their familiarity made it hard to stop. Instead, she went on to take a look at the last inhabitable room, the bedroom. Bo followed her but remained leaning in the door frame. She didn't take her eyes off Lauren, not for one second.

Before she could say anything Lauren heard a door slam shut. Tamsin sauntered back into the living room. Lauren went back to her with Bo. The Valkyrie had the sphere in her hands. She placed it on a small table, where it whirled brightly blue again. Her green eyes flickered from Lauren to Bo and back again.

"So, do you want to take a look at our stock?"

She led them to the drawers and chests and trunks in the corner, which she begun to open. Bo whistled. "Impressive arsenal, Tamsin."

Even Lauren, who had no real idea of Fae weapons, had to gape. Tamsin revealed swords in every conceivable form and length, daggers, two crossbows, a cudgel, and several objects Lauren couldn't identify. The blades were equally diverse. Mainly steel, of course, but some looked like crystal, or obsidian, even sharpened wood, and Lauren thought she saw a glass cutlass. Then there were armlets, necklaces, leather chest protectors, belts in which to carry the weapons, leather pants, and even one chain mail. Everything was in perfect condition.

Immediately Bo begun to take the blades in her hand, judged their weight and even tried some test strokes in midair. Lauren watched her whirl around gracefully. Tamsin's fingers glided over the protective armour.

Finally she said "Tomorrow we'll take the best ones with us. There are some nasty surprises in here."

In the next hour they discussed how to fight the three remaining Fae. The Valkyrie explained how Berserks could be harmed, and what of her armour could help. Lauren paid close attention as well. Luckily, both Tamsin and Bo restrained themselves from snapping at each other.

…

After that Bo and Lauren made themselves a cup of tea and drank it on the couches in the living room, while Tamsin rummaged somewhere upstairs.

"Lauren?"

"Mhm?"

"We haven't really talked since… you know."

Lauren swallowed, but didn't answer. In her mind she played with the thought of avoiding this conversation strictly. Instead she crossed her arms and let the room fill up with silence. Their ease with each other from before had vanished completely. Bo fidgeted until she said "Did it – did it mean anything?" She paused shortly, looking on the floor, "Because to me it did."

Lauren didn't know what to say.

"You wanted a break and this is not exactly one, but it happened. We can't change that. I respect whatever you choose to do now. I just wanted you to know that it mattered greatly to me."

Lauren waited until Bo had raised her eyes again so she could hold her gaze. "Did you use your powers on me?"

"What?" Bo looked taken aback. She raised her hands. "No I didn't! I mean, I thought that maybe… I felt your Chi when I walked in. You were upset about something and I wanted to help." She looked sincerely troubled. The thought that she had forced Lauren to do something against her will had never occurred to her.

And Lauren couldn't say that it hadn't felt good. There had been a moment when she could have said no – but she hadn't. And now Bo was standing in front of her again, close enough to touch her if she wanted to.

So she said "It's not helping. Don't do it ever again, okay?"

Bo nodded. Her brown eyes were full of sorrow. It was painful for Lauren to look at her. Bo whispered her next words. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it, I know. But I am so afraid of losing you for good that I did anything to hold you close again."

Lauren closed her eyes and ran her hand through her hair. She was at loss for words. Her own sadness made it hard for her to think rationally. Bo still made her feel things she absolutely could _not_ feel right now.

"God, Bo! You're Fae. You're a succubus. Your powers are growing stronger every day and you have to use them responsibly."

"I don't want them. I know that I'm dangerous. I feed on sexual energy; I can manipulate people without touching them; I can suck the Chi out of several people at once. But I don't want any of this," Bo said stubbornly, her voice firm again. "It ruined our relationship."

"No, it didn't. There was more behind it, and you know that, Bo."

She clenched her teeth. "I wish I could turn back the clock. But I can't. Please, Lauren, just tell me what you need and I'll do anything."

"It's not that easy, Bo." Lauren threw her hands in the air. "My whole _life_ revolved around you!" She took a deep breath. She didn't fear Bo as a succubus. But as a succubus Bo had no chance to make their relationship truly work. Lauren had to think of Dyson and Tamsin.

The first time Bo had sucked the Chi out of a room full of people Lauren had the hypothesis that it happened because of what they felt for each other. An eternity later Bo did it again, but this time for Dyson. Lauren was not sure whether that proved her obviously wrong or undermined her theory, but frankly, she didn't really want to think about that choice. Especially its implications. It had been the exact moment when she realized that she was not good enough for Bo.

Up until that point her whole life the succubus had been the key element of her life. In a way she had never really lived for herself at all. After Afghanistan, where she had met Nadia, they had decided to help where they were needed the most. These people were fighting every day for their right of an independent life. Some of them had to fight for their sheer survival as well. Supporting them felt good. Her life had a meaning. But Nadia fell ill and Lauren pledged herself to the Light Fae, her life a sacrifice for rescuing Nadia. Long before Bo whirled into her life she had lost herself somewhere along the way.

And then the succubus had strolled along. It was quite ironic, really. Bo had never forced Lauren to give up anything. In fact, she had been the very first in a very long time who had fought for Lauren's freedom. And somehow she had managed to get herself entangled in Bo's life instead.

Their relationship had been the most wonderful thing that had happened to Lauren in a very long time. But Bo's Dawning had shown her that she could never truly be part of the Fae world, as an equal. The failure of their relationship had just been the tip of the iceberg. There was so much more wrong with Lauren's life.

That was what Tamsin had meant, she realized.

"I just need time to think," she said, and left Bo alone sitting on the couch, reversing their roles from their break up a few weeks ago.

…

Maybe half an hour later Lauren was in the kitchen, trying to find something to do, while Tamsin had gone to only god knew where, when she heard Bo scream.

It was a quiet scream, more like a short outcry of pain through clenched teeth, and it lasted only one second before a thumping noise came from the adjacent room. But it was enough cause Lauren to drop what she was holding on the floor and send her running towards the sound.

It took her only a heartbeat to comprehend the situation. In front of a small table by the couch Bo had fallen to her knees, her face a mask of physical ache. Her whole body shook. She struggled to get up again, but her strength was leaving her quickly.

Her hand rested on the sphere. She had touched it.

The staen pulsated underneath her fingers. Hungry blue lines had spun a net around Bo's fingers, chaining her to the sphere. The energy vibrated around her hand. With small electric pangs cobalt sparks hurled through the air. While Bo's power faded the sphere grew and grew, both in shape and brightness. Silver shadows flew across its surface like flocks of birds, forming obscure patterns of energy. The sphere drank Bo's Chi.

Fear seized hold of Lauren.

"Bo!" The next second she was on her knees beside her, desperately trying to loosen Bo's fingers from the sphere. She could feel the power it absorbed running under her fingers. It hummed and reverberated in her whole body. But she couldn't grasp the blue lines flowing from Bo. Lauren's fingers went through them like through rays of light. Bo's other hand found her arm, but only for a second, before it dropped to the floor. Lauren panicked.

"Let her go!" Her hands hammered against the swelling ball of purified Fae energy.

And finally the blue lines started to fade, releasing Bo, who sank to the floor. Her eyes fluttered. She didn't breath regularly. Cold sweat dampened her forehead. The sphere, at least doubled in size, rolled away and clattered to the floor as well, on the other side of the table.

"Bo?" Lauren bent down to her, to feel her racing pulse and cup her pale face. "Oh god, Bo? Can you hear me?"

Her voice was faint, barely audible. "Lauren?"

"Can you look at me? Bo. Open your eyes for me."

"Lauren."

"Shh, it's okay, I'm here now."

Bo didn't move. Lauren took her in her arms and held her up to ease her breathing. She stroked her damp black hair behind her ears, slightly rocking back and forth. There was nothing else she could do against Bo losing her consciousness. She looked small and fragile. Her head rested against Lauren's chest. "I'm here. I've got you. It's okay."

"Natural selection at its finest."

"Tamsin!" Lauren hadn't heard the Valkyrie enter. "Where have you been? We have to help Bo!"

"I specifically told her not to touch the sphere, but of course she did it anyways. Maybe now the succubus learns to restrain herself."

Lauren stared at her speechlessly. If she hadn't knelt on the floor with Bo in her arms she would have slapped the Valkyrie again. Tamsin just crossed her arms and returned Lauren's look with intense green eyes. "It's okay, Lauren. She's going to be fine in the morning." She cocked her head to the side. "Unless you want to breathe your own Chi into her?"

At least she helped Lauren to lay Bo on the couch before she vanished again. Lauren was glad about that.

Bo looked like she had fallen into a deep, exhausted sleep. Her fingers folded neatly around Lauren's and gripped them tightly from time to time. Lauren stayed at her side the whole day.

…

In the evening, she went out to watch the sunset over the lake. Lauren sat on the bench behind the house, when Tamsin reappeared. She had a wet towel thrown over her shoulder, held her clothes folded in her hands, and wore nothing but a bikini top and shorts. Her wet hair shone golden in the fading sunlight. She had been swimming.

Tamsin noticed Lauren and strolled up to her. She turned towards the lake and sighed. "Not exactly the sea, but I like it anyways."

Lauren remained silent and threw an angry glance at her.

As she turned her side towards her and lifted the towel from her shoulder to dry her hair Lauren could see bruises scattered across her ribcage and stomach, interrupted by the thin lines of new scars. They shimmered faintly on her skin, almost invisible in the fading light. Tamsin paused in her movement.

"I fell", she said, noticing the staring.

"Off a cliff?"

Tamsin laughed. "Do I look like I have trouble with keeping my balance when I climb?" Suddenly Lauren realized where Tamsin had gotten those strange cuts at the docks all those weeks before. One of the Berserks had drawn his claws right across her head. She must have been even more close to death than Lauren had imagined. She swallowed. The pang of fear for the Valkyrie came surprising since she still tried to be angry at her for her behavior when Bo had touched the sphere.

Tamsin left and went into the house, only to appear one minute later, fully dressed again, with a bottle of white wine and two glasses in her hands. Lauren had to smile at her clothes, though. Tamsin wore sweatpants and a college jacket. That was so out of her usual style that she had to grin at Lauren's reaction as well. "There is a cupboard with clothes upstairs. If you want to borrow anything, go ahead."

Lauren nodded thankfully. Tamsin sat down next to her and poured her a glass. Then she said more to herself than to Lauren "Why does it always end up like this?"

The human looked up. "What?"

"Us two, sitting somewhere, sharing a bottle of wine."

Lauren had to laugh bitterly. "Good question. I have no idea. Tell me if you find out."

They remained quiet for a moment, looking out over the lake and enjoying the view. Lauren folded her legs underneath her and leant back, sipping from her wine. It was really good.

"How's Bo?" Tamsin asked quietly, pulling her knees to her chin.

"Sleeping."

"She doesn't know that I kissed you, does she?"

"We're not having this conversation."

Tamsin chuckled "Why? Afraid what would happen if I told her?" She put her elbow on the backrest of the bench to turn to the human.

„You're still a complete stranger to me," Lauren said softly. She thought she had caught a glimpse behind the veil of Tamsin's otherwise impenetrable self-protection. She still didn't know why she had to build these walls in the first place, though. But with what the other Fae on the roof had said and with her reaction to Lauren's accusation of her running away from something, a picture was beginning to form in her head.

"But that is just what a succubus _does. _They feed on sexual energy. And how do you get that? You don't just physically arouse your prey but drain them mentally as well. They get into your head and fuck your mind until they can swallow your whole being."

"Stop trying to outsmart the world. It's not working, Tamsin."

"Yeah, you would know that."

"Bo is not like that."

„I just don't get what you see in her," Tamsin said, tilting her head to the side. "She is a succubus. What do you expect?"

"God, Tamsin. I just don't get why you think that this is any of your business." While the Valkyrie smirked Lauren went on, "It wasn't like this, before the Dawning. She _was _different back then."

She didn't look away from the glass in her hand and avoided the gaze of Tamsin's intense green eyes. The joking and sarcastic and bitchy one with that crooked smile of hers was easier to handle than the one sitting next to her right now. She really didn't know why she opened up to her.

"Mhm", Tamsin let her eyes wander across the lake and took a sip of her wine. "The Dawning can do this. But it is probably just the aftermath. Things are going to be normal again."

"When?" Lauren almost whispered.

"I don't know. Bo is different from the rest. Could take a bit longer. Depends." She sighed. "It can be really difficult. You see, in a way Bo just got aware of how powerful she really is."

"Well, she doesn't look like she is having any sort of trouble." Lauren said to her wine.

"That's not what I meant. She is still so young. A child, in some way. Although not quite so dependent on protection." Tamsin chuckled and put the glass again to her lips.

Lauren looked up, now more comfortable without Tamsin staring at her like she did before. She hesitated, but then asked: "What was your Dawning like?"  
Tamsin smiled, apparently lost in memories, and took a long time to answer: "Very long ago. Back in Scandinavia."  
"How long?"  
"Do you remember Lofoten? The first humans settled there 11000 years ago."  
Lauren nearly spat out her drink.  
Tamsin laughed. "Jesus! I'm not _that _old. But at the same time my family first appeared on the record."

Lauren still looked shocked. But she noticed that Tamsin had dodged the question about her age.

"I said we live long. That is the hardest part of it." Tamsin's smile withered away like the light in her eyes that had been sparked by Lauren's question. "Do you know what it does to you, to see someone crumble away like the dust they are, after all? Not the violent, tragic death, but the quiet and silent one, at first so slow you don't notice it. I don't mean the wrinkles or the hair colour." She grew silent for a moment, focusing a stain on the wooden bench between them. "Do you know what happens when the memory loss starts, when you keep forgetting where you put your book, and in the end you don't even know your own name anymore, even less people you spend your whole live with? And the physical pain of getting up in the morning grows so strong you rather decide to stay in bed all day. Then you never get up again. You get so weak that you can barely speak. And nobody and nothing can help."

As the sadness had stifled the sound of Tamsin's voice, Lauren's eyes had dropped. She didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Tamsin. Losing someone is never easy."

"Oh, I know, Doc. You should know best. Especially about the tragic, violent deaths, I guess."

Lauren looked out over the lake. "I've always wondered why the hell you think you know so much about me."

"I read your file." Tamsin's tone had changed again. The sadness had vanished as quickly as it had come.

"I have a file?" Lauren lifted her eyebrows.

"No." Tamsin grinned at Lauren noticing her lie. "You're just like, I don't know, walking through doors I don't know I left open."

Lauren took a sip of her wine. She felt thankful that the Valkyrie was finally talking to her.

Finally, Tamsin opened her mouth. Quietly, she said "I got the order to hunt down Bo."

Lauren nodded. By now, she had suspected that much.

"I'm good at that. Normally. The point is I'm a Valkyrie. Whenever I grow attached to something it crumbles underneath my fingers. It's in my blood. But this time I'm trying to break the pattern.""

Now it was getting interesting. Lauren didn't take her eyes off Tamsin. "With the sphere?"

"Exactly." Tamsin eyes darkened. She didn't say much more that night.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: I'm glad you liked the longer chapter! I'll do more of them then, I could never say no to chocolate cake ;)  
And you might have noticed that I changed the description to doccubus vs. copdoc. The story line changed from the way I wanted it to go in the beginning, but, before the doccubus shippers leave altogether, the original pairing is still Bo/Lauren. The story is not over yet, the end is still open!

XIII

Even though she still didn't know how to think about Bo's behavior towards her, she felt overwhelmingly happy to hear the succubus stir on the couch. That she was okay. Lauren had woken up early, and continued to watch Bo sleep. Now a wave of relief washed over her. Yesterday, the fear of losing her had jolted through her like an electric shock. Of course she needed space. Of course she wanted to draw a final line under her relationship with Bo. That didn't mean she wanted Bo completely out of her life. Or that anything happened to her. Not at all.

On the couch Bo groaned weakly. Lauren knelt next to her, frowning. Bo didn't look good.

"How are you?"

"My head feels like someone tried to bash my brains out," she moaned. "Oh god, I hate her."

Lauren laughed softly. "I'm sure Tamsin is very sorry."

"Mhm, sure." Bo rubbed her eyes and tried to sit up. Her movement was slow, she felt dizzy. "I just shouldn't have touched the sphere."

"You're a cat, Bo. You always land on your feet."

Finally erect, Bo smiled down at Lauren by her knees, tugging at the blanket Lauren had wrapped her in the night before. "Not if someone catches me first."

Lauren had to smile. After a short pause she asked "Why did you touch it in the first place?"

Bo struggled for words, meekly. "I didn't want to, honestly. It just… It drew me in. Like a trap. It just happened."

Lauren laid her hand on Bo's knee. "It's okay. That's what the sphere does. It tries to lure Fae in, to relieve them of their life energy."

"That sounds familiar." Bo frowned. "And it explains why I'm feeling so hungry."

"Alright, let's get you breakfast." Lauren jumped up and turned towards the kitchen. But Bo caught her hand before she could walk away. Surprised, she looked at Bo, still sitting on the couch.

"No, that's not what I am talking about."

"Oh." Lauren didn't know what to say. _Oh._ Shit.

Bo bit her lip. The topic made her uncomfortable as hell, especially with Lauren. But she was feeling very shaky already. Her head was spinning. The hunger throbbed in her whole body.

In that moment Tamsin came in through the back door, her hair wet. She had been swimming again. At least she was fully dressed, though. "Oh, you're up!" Her sarcastic smile was broad while she walked past them, barely looking at Bo or Lauren. "Let's get going, then."

"Bo has lost a lot of energy," Lauren said.

"Yeah, the sphere is gigantic."

"That's not what I meant." Lauren struggled for words. Tamsin stopped in the middle of the room and turned towards them, one eyebrow raised in irritation. Her glance flickered from Lauren to Bo to their hands, where it lingered. Bo held Lauren's still locked in hers.

"What, trouble in paradise?" Tamsin said smugly. Bo nearly tried to punch her, but Lauren pressed her hand gently, so she didn't. Not that she would have bothered if Tamsin had gotten a stinging rebuke, though. Lauren had appreciated her honesty yesterday evening. But the Valkyrie slipped easily back into her old attitude, like nothing had happened at all.

"She needs to feed," Lauren said finally.

"I don't see why that's my problem."

Releasing Lauren, Bo threw a sarcastic smile at the Tamsin. She returned it charmingly.

"Can you, uhm, give it back? Make the sphere give it back? I don't need much."

"No," Tamsin exclaimed. "Even if I could, why should I?"

"I need Chi, or I won't make the journey back." Bo's voice was quiet and bitter.

"I guess you should have thought about that before you decided to ignore my advice," Tamsin said darkly and crossed her arms.

"Well, I can't change it now," Bo snapped back, now standing as well.

"What do you expect me to do? Letting you _feed_ on me?"

"Hell, no, not again!"

Bo's exclamation made Lauren frown. 'Again'. When had Bo ever fed on Tamsin? Probably sometime shortly after the break up, Lauren guessed. But then, Tamsin had disappeared around that time, heading for Norway. Bo seemed to notice that she had slipped something important since Tamsin lifted her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side, glancing at Lauren. The Valkyrie didn't follow that line, though.

"You're a succubus and you can't last two days without sucking someone dry?"

"You wouldn't have lasted one minute against your Berserks without me!"

Lauren lifted her hands. She didn't want them to argue that early in the morning. She didn't want this to escalate at all. "Okay, okay, it's a bad situation, but blaming each other doesn't help." She drew a deep breath. "Bo, I volunteer."

Both Fae stared at her.

"Oh Lord," Tamsin sighed.

Bo shook her head resolutely. She hated the whole discussion. "No, really, maybe you could just, you know, drop me of somewhere. At a gas station or a diner or something like that. I need just a little bit."

"Okay, let's do that then," Tamsin said.

Lauren ignored her. She looked at Bo. "Exactly. I'd rather not lose any more time, especially if you don't need much."

"So you end up drained and exhausted?" Tamsin threw in.

Bo frowned again, at first at Tamsin's continuous interruptions, and then unhappily at Lauren. "Seriously? Are you sure about this?"

Lauren smiled back at her. She wasn't, of course. She couldn't come up with anything more stupid to do right now. But she dreaded a hungry succubus prowling around.

Neither did she like the idea of Bo kissing a random stranger, or generally anyone else, for that matter, but she didn't want that to affect her decision making. She tried to shove her feelings in a little box in the back of her head and lock it for now. In the long run it was going to drive her mad, she was sure of that, but she couldn't help it right now.

If Bo needed her, she'd help her. It had always been like this, and even if she tried, it was unlikely it would change. Even if it had to, sooner or later.

But they wanted to fight Berserks after all. That was the most important thing right now, and they shouldn't lose any more time. So she nodded, calm and collected.

"Thank you, Lauren," Bo said softly.

"You've got to be kidding me," Tamsin said incredulously. Lauren frowned at her for that comment. Tamsin raised her hands in frustration and hurried out of the room, mumbling "Well then, try not to kill her." Lauren heard her footsteps upstairs.

"Just this once, okay?" She said to Bo.

"You don't have to do this at all."

"I want to," Lauren answered.

"I'm sorry I'm doing this to you," Bo said softly, stepping close to her, and then again, faintly "I'm really sorry."

"Don't be."

Lauren kept completely still, trying to concentrate on her respiration. That didn't help, though, since Bo's faint smell of flowers filled her head. Involuntarily, Lauren took another deep breath.

Bo cupped her face with her hands. Her eyes were dark brown, brimming with inner conflicts. Gently, her thumb ran along Lauren's slightly trembling lips. Lauren raised her hand to lay it on top of Bo's. She pressed it softly. Their foreheads were nearly touching. Bo sighed. For a heartbeat they remained like this, standing so close they could feel each other's breath on their skin, with their eyes open, trying to distinguish between old familiarity and different, new emotions.

Lauren failed on that part, hopelessly.

Then Bo stepped even closer. Their lips met in the middle of the small gap that had still been separating them. Bo's movement was delicate. Their tongues merged with the slightest hint of heat, unlike the searing fever Lauren had felt the last time.

That didn't mean, though, that she didn't feel as desperate in Bo's hands as she had before. All her well prepared arguments, her precautious measures against putting more meaning into this than there clearly was, her wall building, it all ran through her fingers like sand. When she felt Bo's tongue against her bottom lip, asking her to open her mouth, her own hands fell to Bo's arm and hip, to pull her close. Bo responded gently.

Lauren was still aware of the fact that this kiss meant nothing whatsoever, that it was just a necessity for getting Bo back on track. But just for this tiny moment she let go. There were enough unresolved issues between her and Bo, so many unspoken questions, conflicts, doubts, this kiss was just the latest point on a very long list. She wasn't sure they'd ever be able to solve all of it.

Her argument yesterday hadn't lost any of its validity. But for the moment, she didn't care.

Bo had never done this with her, so she didn't know what to expect. So Lauren almost didn't notice how the Chi begun flowing from her.

Not until a light dizziness got hold of her head. She felt exhilarated, at first. It was intoxicating. Her head spun until Bo was the only thing left in the world. She held on to her tightly. Then her legs began to tremble.

Lauren gasped for breath. Her eyes fluttered open. She expected to see the blue succubus eyes in front of her. She was mistaken, though. Bo still held her eyes closed, her expression a torn mixture of bliss and craving. Instead of withdrawing she bent forward again and pressed their lips together once more.

But instead of continuing to drink Lauren's Chi she let her own flow back to the human.

Lauren's heart missed a beat. She had never felt anything like this before. She hadn't even known it was possible. It took her by complete surprise. She sunk back slightly, Bo following her closely again, maybe even giggling melodiously, Lauren felt it ringing sweetly in the back of her head, but she wasn't sure since she had no experience on this whatsoever; and her head went completely blank. It was more than breathtaking. She might have laughed if Bo's taste hadn't been on her lips.

The feeling of dizziness increased tenfold. She might as well have emptied a whole bottle of champagne. And danced all night. In Rome. Under the summer night sky. Several nights successively.

Apart from the energy flow that pumped live through her veins like nothing else, the most exhilarating thing was the taste. Bo's Chi pulsed through her, sweet and pure, peaceful like clouds dissolving in sunlight.

Bo gave her less back than she'd taken, of course.

She was the one to stop it as well. When they broke apart her eyes flew open, anxiously trying to find out whether she had overstepped another line.

"Wow." Lauren couldn't say anything else.

Bo leant her forehead against hers again and chuckled softly. "Thanks for kissing me better."

"Does it always taste like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like-" Lauren would have gestured if Bo hadn't been resting her forehead against hers. "You?"

Bo laughed. "No, I don't think so. Depends on me, how I feel, whom I kiss."

Lauren sighed, and took a step back. "I didn't even know this was possible."

"What? Are you going to say this was 'informative'?"

Lauren smiled. Bo had brought up memories from their very first meeting. "How do you feel now?"

Bo raised her eyebrows suggestively but restrained herself from saying anything inappropriate. "Much better. As I said, I need less these days. I shouldn't feel hungry until tomorrow, at least."

"But you didn't take much from me."

"It's getting easier."

Lauren was sure that Bo was exaggerating. She would feel less edgy, but she definitely needed to feed properly. But she definitely looked better already.

….

They found Tamsin in the attic, underneath the roof.

Reaching her was not that easy, though. The whole second floor was dusty and ramshackle. Broken pieces of furniture were scattered within the rooms. The wooden floor creaked under the feet. They had to search for some time until they realized where Tamsin had gone. The only way to the loft was a wooden ladder through a trap door, and it was hidden behind a giant wardrobe with a cracked mirror in the front door. Lauren found the ladder by following Tamsin's footsteps in the dust on the floor.

Shouting for Bo, who was looking for Tamsin in the next room, she started climbing up to the attic. The rungs squealed dangerously when she put her weight on them.

In the dim light Lauren had trouble to see her at first. Tamsin was bent over a small wooden chest. She turned around when Lauren approached, raising her eyebrows at the human. "Still alive?"

Lauren ignored her teasing. "What are you doing?"

"You realize that that was pretty stupid right now. What if she couldn't have controlled herself?"

Lauren rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath "The proofs of death are statistics and everyone runs the risk of being the first immortal."

Tamsin laughed, recognizing the citation. "Don't quote Borges on me! How old are you again? Compared to me?"

Lauren smiled. "In earnest, I trust her." Then she dropped the topic decisively. "To repeat my question: what are you doing?"

"This house here, it's my halcyon place." Tamsin said softly and turned around again. She pointed at the chest in front of her when Lauren stood next to her. "Just in case you've wondered why we're safe here."

The chest was empty apart from one little stone, resting in the center of it. Lauren frowned and looked closer. The light was already faint, and inside the wooden box it was even worse, but there was no doubt about what she saw.

There was a second sphere in it.

It had the same size as a golf ball, and didn't emit any form of radiation, unlike Tamsin's. Its colour was different as well. It looked tarnished, but underneath that it still glimmered golden. While Lauren studied it Tamsin said "It once belonged to a friend of mine, who owned this house. He used it to protect himself in here, to keep other Fae away. It's kind of tempting, isn't it?"

"Hm?" Lauren couldn't tear her eyes away from the sphere.

"Just staying here, forgetting about the rest of the world." Tamsin's voice trailed off. "It didn't help him, though, when he did come out of hiding. Now his sphere is keeping every Fae I don't want to have around away from this house."

Lauren looked up again and noticed that Tamsin was watching her closely in the semidarkness. "What are you thinking?" The Valkyrie asked. She ignored the sphere, paying attention only to Lauren's reaction to it.

"How many spheres are there in total?"

"I don't know." Tamsin crossed her arms in front of her chest. "No more than a dozen. Some were destroyed in the past, some lost forever. This is the only other one I know of, apart from my family's. Which was stolen from us. From me." She paused before she repeated her question as well "What are you thinking?"

Lauren considered what she knew, and tried not to get distracted by Tamsin's unusually intense green eyes. Now she understood how Tamsin had come up with her plan, of protecting herself with her sphere. And this one was obviously working for her even if it hadn't belonged to her originally. Tamsin was supposed to hunt down Bo, for another powerful, ancient Fae, but she wanted to 'break the pattern' this time. Using the stæin. So Lauren asked "Could we find these other spheres?"

Tamsin's smirk was startling.

In that moment Bo's head appeared above the floor, where the trap door led down to the rest of the house. Her voice was sharp; it cut through the silence like a knife. "What are you two doing up here?"

Quickly Tamsin closed the chest, and sauntered towards her. "I was just looking for something."

"Did you find it?" Bo's head disappeared again.

Agile, Tamsin let herself fall through the hole in the floor. "Yes."

Lauren followed her.

….

On their way down Bo looked again like she was about to punch Tamsin in the face. The Valkyrie didn't seem to take notice. Lauren found that hard to believe, though.

Back in the main room, Bo sat down next to Lauren on the couch. Tamsin balanced on the sill of the opened window. One of her legs dangled on the inside, the other one she had pulled towards her chin and placed on the window frame. Her index finger drummed persistently on her knee. From time to time the wind played with her hair and she had to tug the strands behind her ear. In the morning sun her eyes had adopted a totally different green than the one from yesterday evening. Lauren noticed that none of her smiles reached them, though, again different from yesterday evening.

It was hard for her to sit back and watch, now that she'd seen the vulnerable side of Tamsin. And she was explaining everything with that ice in her voice Bo absolutely despised, and Tamsin knew that, that's why she was talking this way in the first place. It made Lauren's head ache. She wanted to explain everything to Bo in her own words. Maybe that would have been easier for all of them. But it was Tamsin's story. So Lauren sat back and watched.

Tamsin didn't pay attention to the little details. She painted the broader picture Lauren had been forced to jigsaw together. The sphere was from Lofoten, where it had supposedly worked as a protection shield against Fae. It was Nordic, and belonged originally to Tamsin's family. It had been stolen, and Tamsin had only recently retrieved it.

Yes, there was someone out there who had sent the Berserks to hunt down Bo.

Yes, she wanted to use the sphere as a weapon against him.

That was when Bo frowned. "Why would you help me?"

"Because," Tamsin paused and laid her green eyes on the succubus, "you're my best chance of getting rid of him for good."

"Who is he?"

That question was crucial to her, Lauren could see that. Bo was quick to believe all sorts of implausible stories, even if they were told by that Dark Fae who had repeatedly tried to get her into prison – and kissed her but Lauren chose to forget that for the moment. Bo believed it all, as long as the report sounded logical. And for that she needed names and facts and places and most of all a storyteller who didn't give the impression of lying.

Tamsin sensed that. She was completely aware of it. If Bo didn't believe her now she could go right back to where she'd come from, because Bo wouldn't help her one single inch. Even if she supposedly owned her a favor since the Dawning. So Tamsin said with a straight face and flat voice, as much sincerity as she could muster, "He is your father."

The tension in the ensuing silence was tangible.

Bo bent forward, folded her hands together and pressed her head against them.

Lauren didn't know what to say, or what to think. So she laid her hand on Bo's back and rubbed it gently.

"My mother never talked about him, but my father is most certainly Dark." Bo mumbled through clenched teeth. "I don't say I'm buying your story, Tamsin. The only thing I am sure of is that we have to get rid of the Berserks. After that we'll see."

…

It was Lauren's suggestion to look at the Docks again, to surprise the Berserks in their own territory. Bo was all for kicking down their front door (she still hadn't forgotten what they had said about Lauren), but Tamsin managed to persuade her that they should lie in wait for them, taking them out one at a time.

The most important thing was stopping them from shifting. They had to finish them before they could get into their blood rage, at all costs. That's where Tamsin wanted to make use of the sphere. If they could draw their energy while they were still in human form, they couldn't turn into those monsters neither Bo nor Tamsin had any chance to fight.

"You could stay here while we do that, Lauren," the Valkyrie finished her explanations.

Lauren shook her head. "Even if I'm not fighting, I'd rather be close to you. In case anything happens."

"But maybe she's right," Bo said softly, gesturing towards Tamsin. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Lauren smiled at her but stayed firm. She wouldn't wait for the two Fae out here in the wilderness, not knowing what was going on.

Tamsin hopped down from the window sill. With long strides she walked through the room towards the large platinic box she had locked the sphere in. When she opened it her fingers traced the sphere's surface for a moment, sending icy blue ripples across the silver surface, before she took it out and brought it back to them. She had to use both hands for that. It had grown immensely from Bo's Chi, it was bigger than a basketball.

Tamsin sat on the couch next to theirs, the sphere on her knees.

Bo narrowed her eyes and watched her suspiciously. "I don't like that thing."

Tamsin grinned.

"It's stealing Chi."

"I don't think that you're in any position to say that," Tamsin drawled.

"I for one need it to survive."

"Well, at least the sphere isn't spilling sexual energy."

Bo fell silent. Her expression was so sulky Lauren had to smile.

Slowly, Tamsin placed both her hands on the sphere. Again blue lines appeared on its surface like a net of rivers on a map. They danced around the sphere, leaving lively but intricate patterns. Soon the whole sphere was engulfed in their whirling paths. It was beautiful to watch. They concentrated underneath Tamsin's fingers. But this time they stayed on the sphere, they didn't spring from it like they had while healing Tamsin or drawing energy from Bo. They seemed to wait for something.

Then Tamsin mumbled on inaudible word under her breath.

The blue lines started to change their paths. They withdrew from the complicated patterns they had formed and started merging into one. As more and more blue lines joined together their colour started to change as well. It grew brighter. The blue faded. While the traces on the surface became white the sphere itself lost colour as well, turning darker.

When all the lines had found together one big artery ran across its equator. It circled it. Because it had stopped any meandering sideways the white line looked like it had stopped moving altogether. It reminded Lauren of the straight line on the monitor of an ECG without a patient.

But it hardened like a ring. Tamsin's fingers travelled down the sphere until they found it. Then they started tracing the line. Tamsin had closed her eyes, to focus completely on her sense of touch. A small wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows. She seemed to look for something.

Then the sphere clicked. She had found it, and started to smile.

With one swift movement Tamsin pulled the top half of the sphere upwards. Between her hands it swung open, like a round chest. The opening mechanism and the hinge were hidden somewhere inside it. But the Valkyrie didn't turn it around so Lauren and Bo could look.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bo asked.

Tamsin didn't answer. Carefully, she reached inside the sphere with one hand, while the other one held it open. Her movement was slow and cautious. She seemed to extract something. When she pulled her hand back two rings were lying on her palm. They looked exactly alike. She grinned.

Both of them were silver, very thin, and smooth. They gleamed faintly in the light. Looking from afar, there seemed to be nothing special about them. Apart from the opaque smoke curling underneath the first layer of their surface. They were clearly made from something completely different than silver.

The two halves of the sphere snapped together again. It was grey and bleak again.

There was one difference between the two rings, though. In one of them a single rune was engraved. But Lauren had no time to take a closer look at it. Through that one Tamsin pulled a thin leather strap, which she knotted and hung around her neck. Quickly, she let the necklace drop underneath her shirt.

Bo and Lauren looked at her questioningly.

"Oh, I just made the sphere portable," she said. "This ring is the core of the sphere. The stæin. The sphere itself is purified energy, how do you think it's kept together? And not exploding or just dispersing? This," she patted the grey ball on her knees, "is just the storage. The ring draws the energy."

"And how is it working without it now?" Lauren asked and pointed at the sphere.

"It isn't. It's in lock down, kind of. Frozen. Even Bo could touch it now."

She the second ring threw in Lauren's lap. It whirled through the air like a silver lining. "This one is for you."

Lauren picked up the ring, held it between two fingers and looked at it closely. The more she focused on it the more innocent it looked, but as soon as she glanced back to Tamsin, and the ring was on the periphery of her vision, it blurred. "And what is that?"

"An extension of the sphere. It's going to protect you while we're away."

"I don't need protection."

Tamsin opened her mouth, maybe to snap at Lauren, but managed to bite her lips instead. So she said "We can't guarantee that we'll catch the Berserks. It's just a precautionary measure."

For once, Bo agreed with Tamsin. "Just in case."

Lauren frowned at the two women looking at her. She slipped it on. Nothing changed. "What is it supposed to do?"

Tamsin tilted her head to the sight. "If you're threatened it should protect you against all Fae attacks. Their powers shouldn't work on you, either."

"What do you mean with 'should'?"

"I've never seen it on a human."

"Then let's test it," Bo said. Tamsin raised her eyebrows.

Before Lauren realized what she was suggesting, Bo had turned towards her and looked her in the eyes. Lauren froze as Bo raised her hand, and gently traced Lauren's cheek with one finger. With her other hand Bo took hers, drawing circles with her thumb on Lauren's skin.

Lauren was so surprised that when she opened her mouth to say something, maybe to protest, no sound left her lips. Bo came even closer, a crooked smile on her face. Softly, her finger moved from Lauren's cheek to her chin and then to her parted lips. Her caress was so light Lauren was barely able to feel it. Her systems went into complete lockdown.

But there was no heat. Just Bo. This was purely her personal influence on the human.

"And?" Tamsin asked impatiently.

"Nothing." Bo almost sighed. Her eyes were so incredibly dark, Lauren had trouble to concentrate. The problem was not to find out what she wanted. Lauren knew that already very well. Every fiber of her body screamed for Bo if she let her self control slip for a moment. The problem was staying reasonable.

She swallowed. Her eyes dropped to Bo's mouth. "Are you trying to draw Chi from me again?"

"I could try." Bo suggested mischievously.

Tamsin threw her head back and rolled her eyes so hard Lauren could see it even from her rather distracted position.

Bo didn't notice the Valkyrie, though. She carried on "But I guess I would fail. You have no aura anymore. It's completely gone."

She let go of Lauren's hand and sat back. Not quite to her former position, though, she stayed a little bit closer. Their knees were almost touching.

"Why can she touch the sphere and I can't anyways?" Bo said.

Tamsin drew in a deep breath and looked at Lauren. "Because you're connected to it. Spheres aren't supposed to be controlled by one person. They are far too powerful for one Fae. There always have to be two. If one carrier gets to greedy, the other one is supposed to stop him. But you can't choose your partner, the sphere does. In case two power hungry Fae tried to join up. No one had used this one in a very long time, so no one was connected to it until I came. And then I was wounded." She fidgeted. "It needed you to heal me."

Lauren frowned. "But I didn't. I just handed you the sphere."

"Yes. In that moment it had to allow you to hold it, or I would have been seriously harmed. You said yourself I was close to death."

"Wait a moment," Bo said. Lauren remembered that she didn't know about all of this. But she was tactful enough not to ask. Instead she said "So she's protected against these Berserks right now?"

"If they tried to touch her, the ring would suck them dry. It doesn't help against anything else, though. Keep on avoiding paper cuts, Doc," Tamsin said, amusement glinting in her eyes.

"And you should try to avoid falling," Lauren shot back with a short, meaningful glance at Tamsin's stomach. Her voice had a note of humour in it.

"Why didn't it draw energy from me just now?" Bo asked.

Tamsin smirked. "Lauren doesn't seem to see you as a threat. The ring picks that up."

"I think the whole sphere appears to be intelligent in general," Lauren added, to which Tamsin nodded.

Bo clapped her hands on her thighs. "So, we could drop you at the Dal in any case. I'm sure Trick and Dyson will be there. Then we'll come back as soon as we have solved this little problem."

Now it was Lauren's time to worry, apart from the fact that she wasn't particularly keen on running into Dyson. She still didn't know what Tamsin had meant in the car yesterday, about Bo's powers affecting the shape shifter. Immediately a knot appeared in her stomach again. She moved a little further away from the succubus.

"Are you sure that you can handle this on your own?"

Hunting fever seemed to take hold of both Fae. Their eyes glinted dangerously. "We'll kick their ass," Bo said firmly.

"Now that we're well equipped," Tamsin added mischievously, her finger tugging at her new necklace. And then there were these weapons they had looked at yesterday.

….

They arrived in the early evening. Tamsin had driven again, but this time a little bit slower after Bo's complaints, who sat on the passenger seat. They had also made several stops, to refuel and to get something to eat.

Lauren jumped out in front of the Dal. She had contemplated going home first, but chances were that Berserks were still lurking around her apartment. If they were watching the Dal Tamsin thought that they'd follow her and Bo, and leave Lauren alone. So both of them got out of the car, to be as visible to any observer as possible.

Bo breathed a kiss on Lauren's cheek before they left again. Tamsin watched it with that typical bored expression of hers, and gave Lauren a short, smug salute with one finger to say goodbye. As they drove off a queasy feeling settled in Lauren's stomach.

She pulled herself together, turned around and walked into the bar. The familiar atmosphere of Trick's pub soothed her nerves. Even after all her pretending not to, Lauren had missed the Dal, immensely. The wooden interior, the lively music, the familiar faces, the drinks.

"Hey!" Someone shouted across the room as soon as Lauren stepped into the bar. In the next second a black haired whirlwind with piercingly blue eyes flung her arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. After the initial shock she laughed and hugged Kenzi back.

"Long time no see, Doc," Kenzi exclaimed.

Lauren smiled at her. She had missed the bubbly, intelligent, only other human in the Fae world she knew, outside from work. "Yes, I've been very busy in the last weeks."

They walked to two vacant bar stools. Kenzi shouted "Yo!" and waved two fingers in Trick's direction. The bartender's face lighted up when he spotted Lauren in the crowd. They exchanged a couple of words across the bar before Trick served them his best liquor.

Kenzi grinned when she saw the bottle in his hand. "You have to come more often, Doc."

Lauren smiled again. "Maybe when work gets less stressful. I didn't have much free time lately."

"So I've heard. Bo complained about it," Kenzi laughed. "So, what are you doing here today?"

"Waiting for her and Tamsin, actually."

Kenzi frowned. "Really?"

Lauren wasn't sure whether she was more irritated by the fact that she was obviously spending time with Bo after hours again, or that the Dark Fae was involved in it. "Yes, they're trying to find three Fae, and I should stay here while they're doing that."

"Oh. She never told me about that."

Now Lauren frowned as well. Bo had always been very close to Kenzi. They were practically sisters. Not telling her what she was doing was unusual. Suddenly she remembered that Bo had, during her many visits to Lauren's lab, once or twice mentioned that Kenzi troubled her. But she avoided the subject as soon as Lauren asked questions.

So she seized the opportunity. "Is everything alright between you two?"

"Yes, of course!" Kenzi took a sip from her drink. "Everything is super-duper alright."

Lauren raised her eyebrows and said nothing.

Kenzi lasted ten more seconds. "No, it isn't," she admitted. "I just don't know what her problem is!"

"Let me guess. Since the Dawning?"

Kenzi nodded. "She's acting weird. Well, even weirder than normal. And my standards are pretty low already."

Just sipping at her alcohol, Lauren listened to Kenzi rambling about her roommate. Kenzi seemed determined to get wasted, but Lauren was nervous, continually thinking about what Bo and Tamsin were doing right now. She managed to stay calm, though.

Kenzi described what Lauren had assumed already. Her increase in power had made Bo more than edgy. At least she didn't seem to handle this by bringing new lovers home every night. Kenzi noticed immediately that Lauren didn't like this topic particularly, so she dropped it, but her hints had been enough for the doctor to understand that Bo seemed to be reacting by picking fights and drinking more than usual.

The remark "At first I thought it was because of the break up" made her flinch, though.

The point that worried Kenzi most was that they didn't talk about Bo's changes. She was literally running away from her. Kenzi wasn't used to this, not at all. They had always been very open with each other. Now she shut down, completely.

Kenzi rambled on for maybe an hour, before their conversation shifted to a general catch up on what had happened in the last weeks Lauren had spent buried in her work. Or hiding. That depended on the point of view.

They had talked for maybe two hours, Kenzi getting increasingly tipsy, and Lauren still hadn't received any texts or calls with updates on the Berserk situation, when her uneasiness got so strong that she had to get outside, catch a breath of fresh air. She excused herself from Kenzi, who seized the opportunity to order another drink, and stepped outside.

Later on she would call it one of the biggest mistakes she had ever made.

The night air was warm and calm. Lauren took a deep breath and strolled down the alley for a couple of meters. Her direction was spontaneous. If it had been another one the night would have ended completely different.

So, instead of walking for one minute and returning back inside, she noticed two familiar silhouettes at the end of the alley, standing in the dark between two street lanterns. Lauren narrowed her eyes to see better, and took a couple of steps in their direction. Their clothes were almost completely black so she had trouble discerning them at first.

But then she recognized their statures.

Dyson and Bo were standing there, deep in conversation, or at least Dyson talking animatedly and Bo leaning against the wall, slightly bent forward.

Lauren's face lighted up. Bo was okay.

But before she could walk up to them Dyson said something else and stepped up to Bo.

It might have been "You lost her" or "But I'm here" or really anything along that line; it didn't matter to Lauren at all because in the next second Dyson stepped forward and kissed her. He grasped her head and back and pulled her into him, away from the alley wall into his embrace.

Bo let him.

Bo kissed him back and in the darkness of the alley Lauren saw how her eyes turned blue. Instead of buckling Dyson groaned and slammed her back into the wall, burying his hand in her hair, letting her kiss him back feverishly.

Lauren turned around and walked away as fast as she could muster without breaking into a run.


	14. Chapter 14

AN: **Thank you so much for your reviews!** I love each and every single one of them, you boost my motivation&productivity incredibly. So much for shorter chapters. ;)

And before the doccubus shippers jump in my face, this chapter is filed under doccubus angst.

XIV

The numbness didn't settle gradually in Lauren. She threw herself into it until the waves clashed over her head.

Every step carried her further into the darkness, a staccato of white noise drumming in her ears. There was no fog clouding her vision, though, as Lauren might have expected if her mind had been working properly. What she saw in the back alleys, the trash cans and graffiti walls and rusty staircases, everything stood out crystal clear, illuminated by street lamps and moonshine.

But her thoughts and sensations were completely detached from her body. She felt neither her racing heart nor her feet on the asphalt, carrying her only god knew where.

Sometimes perceptions did pop up in her clouded mind, though. Abstractly they wavered past her. The smell of burnt fat, coming from a restaurant's back entrance. Cars rushing past in the distance. Music. Lights. But every single impression was torn apart again, by resurfacing memories of Bo and Dyson in the back alley behind the Dal.

Lauren heard the rhythm of her shoes clicking on the cobblestones. Their noise fastened. She did break into a run, after all.

It didn't matter to Lauren whether Bo had fed on Dyson, to heal wounds, or to appease the hunger she must have felt since yesterday. Lauren didn't have the right to care. She had lost it when she had sent Bo away, when she had turned away from her. She didn't have the right to feel hurt by Bo's behavior. And Lauren didn't, really. Bo was free to kiss – feed on – sleep with whomever she wanted to. It was just that her body didn't seem to realize that. The physical ache was nearly unbearable.

The shock of seeing her had hit Lauren like a bullet train.

The image of Dyson shoving Bo into that wall reappeared in front of her eyes. Lauren felt sick. A static noise in her ears made her temples throb. She just couldn't get the picture out of her head.

But it was Lauren's own fault, really. She had allowed the succubus to tumble back into her life. She hadn't managed to draw that line between treating her as a patient, even friend, and her ex-lover. And now she felt wounded, like she hadn't been able to dodge a bullet. A bullet she could blame on no one but herself. Chaos prevailed in her mind.

She had allowed herself to think that maybe they could work it out again, Lauren realized. Bo's honest efforts to make everything up to her had gotten to her after all. And then the one time Lauren let her walls drop – or torn down by Bo's powers as a succubus – in her lab, at the Light compound, had been the worst mistake. Bo's embrace had felt so good. So right. Lauren had allowed herself to hope.

Now she saw that glimmer of longing blazing in flames.

Bo would never treat her the way she needed her to. There was no way to change that. She just couldn't. Bo was a succubus. Lauren should have learnt what that meant by now. Bo was Fae and she was human. She needed more than Lauren could ever give her.

But Dyson could. Lauren knew that. She had seen it, it had stared her in the face all the time, really. Of course Bo would turn to him. A knife hotter than glowing embers plunged into her stomach, eating its way up to her heart.

But there was no way Lauren could let go of Bo. Not ever. It hurt too much. They had been through too much. Lauren was in way too deep. Her self-perceiving mantras had failed hopelessly. Now she'd rather take the numbness than the pain. She just wanted to forget, to sink into oblivion and never resurface. She was so endlessly exhausted.

The feeling of losing herself gripped Lauren harder than ever before.

She ran until her lungs threatened to burst and her brain screamed for air, and a little bit further.

Suddenly she was leaning against a wall, desperately trying to suck in oxygen. Stars danced in front of her eyes. Her hands scraped over the uneven stone when she pushed herself away from the wall and stumbled on. After all, she had always been good at numbing herself.

The first time she didn't notice the voice that called after her. She just kept on walking, trying not to fall.

The second time she thought she heard her name in the distance. She didn't turn around, despite the drumming sound of shoes on the concrete, of someone running after her.

She stopped only when strong hands grasped her elbow.

Tamsin.

"Thank God, Lauren; you're here."

Where the hell did she expect her to be? Without movement keeping them occupied, her legs started to buckle. Lauren had to bend forward, pressing her hands into her sides to stop the stitches. It didn't work. Tamsin steadied her to prevent her from collapsing entirely.

"Shit, Lauren, what is going on?"

Lauren tried to breathe. She failed.

"Are you having a panic attack?"

Of course Lauren didn't answer; _what a stupid question_; she didn't even hear her properly through the white noise that flooded her brain. She could detect alcohol in Tamsin's breath, though.

And she felt Tamsin's hands, grasping her, trying to hold her up.

"Shit. I'm not good at this."

Lauren closed her eyes. Everything was shrinking into one infinitely small black point, losing every relation to time or space. The singularity closed up on her. She was suffocating.

"Lauren."

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see, she couldn't move.

"Lauren."

Somehow she was screaming without moving a single oxygen atom.

Tamsin bent down, took Lauren's face in both her hands to stop her from trembling, and pulled her in, until they were mere inches apart. Tamsin had slipped on the ring as well, Lauren realized, she felt the metal of it on her skin.

"Look at me," Tamsin said, waiting until Lauren's eyes focused on hers. It took her a couple of seconds. Tamsin's gaze was full of serious concern.

Then her hands turned into fixed points she could hold onto while everything else was drowning in darkness. Or maybe not even that, not even real darkness, the blackness was missing, there was just nothingness, pouring over her endlessly.

"Good. Now breathe with me." Tamsin's voice was low and soothing. She opened her mouth and drew in a deep breath, her chest heaving up, and down again. Then another. And another.

Lauren noticed how she slowly begun following her pattern. Tamsin held her together. Without realizing it she laid her hands on the inside of Tamsin's elbows, and leaned on her. Night air streamed into her lungs, and down her chest into her stomach. In and out. In and out.

It felt like an eternity. Tamsin didn't break their eye contact. She kept on breathing for Lauren.

As the human calmed down in her hands, Tamsin's thumb trailed Lauren's cheekbone. The single tear she brushed away had escaped Lauren's eye without her notice.

Slowly, the paralysis left Lauren's limbs. The tension, that had kept them shaking, left her muscles. Her chest stayed locked within an icy grip, though. But at least she could breathe again. And the pressure in her ears left.

Not letting go of the Valkyrie, she asked huskily "How did you find me?"

"Never mind that. The important thing is that I did. Are you okay? What happened?"

"Just bring me home, please." Lauren's voice was faint, barely audible.

Tamsin obeyed. She wrapped her arm around the doctor's waist to steady her, and if Lauren hadn't been forced to concentrate on her feet she'd noticed that Tamsin's lips hovered for a moment over her head, nearly brushing Lauren's golden hair. They started walking down the way they had come. Tamsin adjusted her pace to Lauren's, slowly taking one step after the other and stopping whenever they had to.

Lauren didn't pay any attention to where they were going. If she had she'd have noticed that her headless escape had carried her right into the heart of the Dark territory. She had covered a lot of ground in her haste to leave Bo as far behind as possible. No one bothered them, though.

At Tamsin's side the walking helped to ease her mind, instead of spiraling her into an oblivious, delirious state of mind. She held on to her, wordlessly.

Tamsin brought her to her own car. Lauren was calm enough again to ask eventually "Did you find the Berserks?"

Tamsin frowned, opening the passenger door. She helped Lauren climb inside before she answered. "No. They vanished. We didn't find any trace of them whatsoever. It's either a giant hole opened in the ground and swallowed them, or they returned home again. I have no idea."

Lauren nodded as if she understood what the Valkyrie was saying. She heard her talking but the words made no sense to her. She didn't have the capacity yet to process the answer. Tamsin stared at her for a long moment, her hand on her hip. She asked no further question, though.

Lauren didn't look at her. Tamsin closed the door and walked around the car.

The drive to her home steadied Lauren further. She looked out of the window, at the lights of the city at night. Of course Tamsin noticed that she wasn't listening to a single word she said, but she was so perceptive to also notice that her voice soothed Lauren, so she kept on talking. Still, the human felt her worried glance more than once.

…

Lauren stumbled into her apartment, not bothering to turn on the light. Street lamps outside the windows illuminated the room in a semi-darkness. Tamsin followed her close behind.

In the twilight everything seemed easier, less defined. Black and white blurred together, just like the distinction between right and wrong faded.

Lauren went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. She gulped it down rapidly, refilled it, and took another sip, this time concentrating on the feeling of the coldness dripping down her throat, before turning around to face Tamsin.

She was standing behind her, her arms crossed, staring at her with troubled green eyes.

Lauren put the glass down. "Thanks for driving me home."

"Anytime." She paused. "You won't tell me what happened, I guess."

Lauren shook her head, more to cast off the memory than to say no. Drops of water fell from the tap into the sink, the metallic clanks echoing in the silence between Tamsin and her. The Valkyrie broke it eventually, by saying "Even if I tell you that I got a disturbing text by Bo telling me to help her to find you?"

Lauren flinched and turned away. She placed both hands on the kitchen counter, leant forward and let her head hang down between her arms, trying to keep the aching at bay. She didn't know how to handle this, she had no idea whatsoever. Her head was spinning.

"I take that as a no," Tamsin said and stepped forward to lay one hand on Lauren's back. She rubbed it gently. "Are you okay?"

Lauren stared at the floor."I'm fine," she lied.

"You're not."

Lauren straightened herself again, at least a bit, and looked at the Fae. Tamsin's hand slid down from her back.

Lauren just wanted to forget, to erase that single memory from her mind. If she'd been alone she'd have emptied that bottle of tequila she had hidden somewhere upstairs. But Tamsin stood there, unmoving, like a marble statue. The pale light accentuated her collarbone and suddenly Lauren felt the urge to trail it with her finger. She wanted to know whether she'd been able to feel that, at least.

"Can you not do that, please?" Tamsin's voice was husky.

"What?"

"Look at me like that."

In the semidarkness of her kitchen Lauren noticed for the first time how gentle Tamsin's facial features could turn. In the curve of Tamsin's mouth she thought she could see a tremble. A gravitational pull got hold of the knot in her stomach.

Lauren remembered how Tamsin's lips had tasted. She remembered the smell of Tamsin's hair. Slowly she stood up, facing the Valkyrie. Her eyes must have betrayed her, since the next thing Tamsin mumbled, staring at her with caution, was "Don't."

"Why?" Lauren asked, and stepped forward. She didn't even touch the Valkyrie. Her fingernails dug into her own skin, the inside of her hands, hanging down at her side. But she came so close to Tamsin that their open mouths were nearly colliding. Tamsin didn't back off. She swallowed visibly, though.

Lauren's eyes darted from Tamsin's lips to her eyes, raking them even though she was smaller than the Valkyrie.

Tamsin held her gaze. "Lauren, don't. Not like this. You don't know what you're doing right now," she whispered, barely audible. Her pupils dilated.

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

"But Bo –"

Lauren soared up, digging her fingers in Tamsin's side underneath the leather jacket. The Valkyrie turned her head to the side, averting her eyes. Lauren's parted lips found only the outline of her jaw and chin. She clenched her teeth. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about this," Lauren mumbled angrily into Tamsin's neck, the scent of her hair filling her head.

"I'm serious, we shouldn't do this, I don't want to interfere with you two," the Valkyrie said, plucking Lauren's clutching hands away from her shirt. She didn't let go of them, though, nor did she push the human away, even if she kept avoiding her eyes. Her breath was maddeningly controlled. Lauren could almost feel it on her skin. She pressed her forehead against Tamsin's temple.

They stood there like this for an eternity, or maybe just two seconds, could have been either. Their bodies were so frustratingly close so close to each other, but in all the wrong places.

"Stop treating me like I'm fragile," Lauren breathed against her skin.

"You're the furthest thing from fragile I know."

"Then look at me."

Tamsin endured one more second. Then she turned back towards Lauren, slowly taking her face in her hands again, like she had in the alley. Her green eyes, glittering despite the darkness, or maybe because of it, darted between Lauren's, trying to make sense of the situation. Her lips were slightly parted, vexingly close to Lauren's without touching them. Muscles in her jaw-line and at her throat protruded in the tension she held them in.

Lauren wondered what she was thinking, but she couldn't really concentrate, so she pressed her hands against Tamsin's shirt again, feeling her lithe body through the clothing. That was what she needed right now: to physically _feel_, without thinking, without expecting, without looking back. So she let her head fill up with Tamsin instead.

The Fae's hands cupping her face eased the pain in her chest.

Down on the street in front of the house a car drove past, its headlights illuminating the room for a split second. Eerie shadows fluttered across the walls. In a fleeting ray of light Tamsin's green eyes shone iridescent. Something dark wavered in them; it might have been agony, or apprehension.

Lauren's hands slid up her side, over her shoulders and neck, until they found her face. Tamsin's skin was soft to her touch. Lauren buried her fingers in her hair, holding the Valkyrie fixated in her position. Tamsin didn't even try to move, not a single inch. Only her eyes gave away her agitation. Slowly, Lauren lifted herself up on her toes. Closing her eyes, she finally found Tamsin's open mouth with her own.

They paused for a heartbeat, gasping, just feeling each other breathe. Then their lips merged, carefully at first, until Lauren's tongue slid over Tamsin's. The Valkyrie awoke from her paralysis, wrapping her arms around the human's back and neck. She pulled her in, pressing her close to her own body, and shoved her into the kitchen counter. She kissed Lauren with an air of desperation.

And again Lauren was overwhelmed by Tamsin's taste. As soon as their tongues locked, a low moan left her lips. Tamsin responded hungrily, tilting her head slightly to the side so she could press even closer.

Lauren felt how the numbness slowly begun fading from her body. Her muscles were sore like she had run a whole marathon. Her head ached. But she yearned for this right now, the body warmth, the feeling of soft lips on her own, the closeness. She needed someone to hold her together.

And she craved Tamsin. With every fiber of her being.

"I'll never be able to get you out of my head again," Tamsin whispered against the corner of her mouth when Lauren had to gasp once more.

Lauren let out a small laugh. It sounded brittle in her ears. But it escaped her throat easier than she had thought it possible. A few minutes ago she had felt like she'd never laugh again at all. Tamsin's lips silenced both her chuckle and her train of thoughts, though.

Lauren took her hand, folding her fingers tightly around hers, and pulled her towards the stairs. She felt the metal of their silver rings again.

Tamsin allowed Lauren to draw her along, but by the first step she caught up on her, laying one arm around her hip and separating the curls of her hair with the other hand, to place her lips on Lauren's neck. Lauren nearly fell forward by the sudden pressure of Tamsin's body against her back; she had to support herself on the handrail of the stairs. Tamsin chuckled melodiously and dragged her teeth and tongue across Lauren's skin, causing her to sharply suck in a breath of air.

Then Lauren turned around to face her.

Their stumble up the stairs was chaotic, a mess of tangled hands and hair and hungry moans.

Tamsin shoved her against the bedroom door, one hand above Lauren's head, the other on her ass, while Lauren's fingers were already underneath her shirt, when she uttered, almost laughed, into Lauren's neck, "This is wrong on so many levels."

"Since when do you have trouble with breaking rules?" Lauren pressed down the handle with her elbow, kicked the door open and pulled Tamsin inside, feverish and desperate for Tamsin's touch and warmth and breath on her skin. Maybe Tamsin tried to say something else, but Lauren bit down on her bottom lip, so she growled huskily instead, and slipped out of her jacket.

Lauren stopped thinking. Tamsin drove the pain away, and nothing else counted.

The Valkyrie's hands were already struggling with Lauren's jeans, but the human was less clumsy at opening Tamsin's, so she stripped her trousers off first, stumbling backwards.

Lauren pushed her down to sit on to the bed, placing her knees next to Tamsin's hip. She began to open the buttons of her blouse in the process. Tamsin helped her, softly trailing Lauren's sternum with her lips as soon as it lay bare, then following a path down between her breasts, towards her navel, her hands on Lauren's hips. With every button the Valkyrie came closer to the waistband of Lauren's jeans. Before she could get there the doctor stripped of her blouse and bent down to meet Tamsin's lips with her own again. Her golden hair spilled down on the upper body of the Valkyrie and Tamsin's fingers traced patterns on the naked skin of Lauren's slender waist, her lips pulling her down on the bed.

When the back of Tamsin's head came to rest on the sheets Lauren broke their kiss, panting. A shiver ran down her spine. Tamsin stroked a strand of her golden hair back behind her ear and ran her thumb across Lauren's lips, smiling softly. The subtleness of her gesture caused a tingling sensation in Lauren. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Absolutely not," Lauren whispered against her hand, and then, hoarsely, almost afraid the confession could ruin it, "I just want you."

Lauren's silver necklace, depicting her alignment to the Light Fae, dangled down on Tamsin's chest.

She bent further down to her, their foreheads almost touching, and opened its clasp at the back of her neck. Tamsin realized what she was doing and smiled broadly, digging her hands in Lauren's tangled hair. With a faintly ringing noise the necklace ran through Lauren's fingers. She threw it across the room, her other hand already pulling the rim of Tamsin's shirt upwards until she felt the edge of her bra. Then, kneeling over her, she laid her hands on the Valkyrie's flat stomach. She moved downwards and trailed the outline of Tamsin's ribcage with her lips. The Fae drew in a sharp breath. Lauren's hair spilled over her chest as she followed the hollow right underneath her last rib, and further down. Tamsin tensed up, her hands falling to her side.

There were the scars again Lauren had seen at Lake Huron. They shimmered faintly, like silver threads, and spun an intricate net around her body. Lauren paused, sensing that Tamsin had frozen. She looked up at her. Tamsin was staring sideways, away from her again, biting her lip. Lauren realized that the Valkyrie was expecting her to withdraw, now that she'd seen the marks on her stomach up close.

Lauren didn't. Instead, she kept her eyes on Tamsin's face, while she breathed a kiss on a particularly long one above her navel, feeling her shiver underneath her hands.

Tamsin sighed and closed her eyes. Gently, Lauren brushed her soft skin with her lips again. Tamsin arched up. Then her eyes flew open, to look down at the blonde human kissing her healing bruises. When their eyes met, a blissful, greedy expression flickered over her face. She sighed something, but Lauren couldn't hear her, so she took it for an exhalation of ravishment. Tamsin raised herself slightly; just enough to strip off her shirt and her bra, before pulling Lauren back up.

Lauren bracketed Tamsin's head with her hands. The Valkyrie was already soaring up, her mouth open to meet Lauren's, hungrily. She sucked at her bottom lip. Her hands pulled Lauren's bra straps down her shoulders, before she opened the clasp and got rid of it. Softly, she cupped Lauren's breasts, causing Lauren to sigh into her mouth. Her touch was gentle. She treated the human carefully, like an artwork she had admired from afar and feared she'd mess up, now that she could take her in her hands. Warmth begun spreading in Lauren's chest again, slowly dispelling the ice that had threatened to freeze her to death an hour ago.

Tamsin moved further upward. Instead of pulling the human down to her, she sat up, taking Lauren's arms and laying them around her neck and back, until Lauren, still kneeling, was almost sitting in her lap. Lauren was sure she could feel Tamsin's heartbeat drumming and pulsing through her own veins. Both of them breathed in heavily. Tamsin was equally desperate for physical contact. It was not so much a greedy longing for someone to love her, but the fear of being alone, unable to shoo away the shadows in her mind. And maybe something more.

The Valkyrie grinned at Lauren and kissed her again, this time laying one arm around her back and quickly spinning around, so that the human ended up lying underneath Tamsin, her legs already straddled. Lauren gasped. Tamsin pressed her mouth against her throat until she arched up.

The Valkyrie's breath on her skin sent shivers running down Lauren's spine, and then she felt her tongue in the soft hollow of her collarbone, trailing downwards. Lauren gasped again when she reached her breasts and found her tips already hard. She exhaled on one of them, softly, before closing her lips around it.

Every single one of Tamsin's movements was gentle and delicate. She knew in what state of mind she had found Lauren, or at least she could guess pretty accurately. And she didn't want to take advantage of that. So she made sure Lauren was fine with everything she did to her.

Lauren was, completely.

With one hand still one Lauren's arching chest, massaging softly, Tamsin worked her way further downwards. Her lips on Lauren's skin sent tingling ripples of warmth right into her core. Carefully, she opened her jeans and pulled them down Lauren's legs until she could throw them across the room. Her mouth trailed the outline of Lauren's jutted hip bones. The human's fingers dug into the bed sheets when Tamsin removed her underwear as well, already wet. Lauren felt Tamsin's long hair on her stomach, her hands gently parting her thighs, and then her tongue on their inside. She paused shortly. Lauren groaned, until she felt it again, this time inside her.

The first time she spoke Tamsin's name out loud that night, into the darkness, was more of an exhalation than a cry. Tamsin changed that, though. Lauren could feel how Tamsin's name on her lips made the Fae smile between her thighs, moving her tongue even more delicately.

Tamsin's soft caressing had built her up slowly. Nonetheless she ended up with ecstasy pumping through her veins, her whole body arching up. Tamsin relieved her willingly.

...

When they rolled around Lauren pressed her hot body down on Tamsin's. Their mouths collided again, their lips swollen, and still hungry. Lauren's hand slid down Tamsin's body, leaving her breathless. Lauren reveled in the expression on her face. She rocked forth.

Then her hand was between Tamsin's thighs, she was sliding two fingers up her sex, and Lauren felt her gasp underneath her.

The Valkyrie threw back her head, moaning, and Lauren worked her way from her jaw line to her throat to her pulse point, in rhythm with the fingers inside her until she had Tamsin on the edge, sighing Lauren's name like a yearning for absolution.

Lauren pressed her teeth against Tamsin's throat, moving her head from side to side. She felt every single one of Tamsin's moans vibrating on her tongue before it reached her lips.

None of them heard the banging on the door downstairs, or Bo's faint voice shouting Lauren's name, pleading, begging, slurred from alcohol.

…

When they finally collapsed into each other neither Tamsin nor Lauren bothered to untangle themselves from each other. Tamsin's light hair spilled over Lauren's ribcage when she folded herself around the human's back, one arm around her waist, Lauren's head on the other one. Their body parts intertwined as if they had been molded to fit into each other. Lauren's hand slid over Tamsin's hip when she rolled around to face her, and bury her face in the hollow between Tamsin's chin and chest. The Valkyrie inhaled the smell of her hair and laid her arm protectively around the human until her hand reached the small of Lauren's back. Their legs tangled underneath the blanket. It was hard to tell where one body ended and the other begun. With their arms wrapped around each other, effectively excluding the rest of the universe, they listened to each other breathing.

Her forehead touching Tamsin's collarbone, Lauren fell asleep softly and unexpectedly.

Tamsin had trouble with drifting off, though. While Lauren had used their night to disperse unwanted thoughts, it served as a source of them for the Valkyrie. She stared alternately down on Lauren, or into the darkness that closed up on them. Her mind was restless, her thoughts spinning. She listened for a long time to Lauren breathing softly in her arms, her finger drawing circles on Lauren's back.

Lauren woke up several times that night. Despite Tamsin's presence images in her head haunted her, of Bo, mainly. But Tamsin's regular heartbeat eased her mind, sending her back to sleep each time.

….

When she woke up in the morning alone in her bed, Lauren feared for one terrible moment that Tamsin had left already. Her hand moved over the empty bed sheet, feeling warmth where Tamsin's body had been lying next to hers. Then she heard water running in the shower, and calmed down again. She closed her eyes and listened to it, allowing her mind to drift lazily between sleep and consciousness. She didn't know the time, and she didn't care.

The Valkyrie didn't come back to bed, though, Lauren heard her footsteps on the stairs and then on the linoleum floor in the kitchen.

Then the realization dawned on her what they had done last night. Her eyes flew open. _Tamsin. She had slept with Tamsin._

Abruptly Lauren sat up. Next, the memory of Bo with Dyson hit her again. Or rather, flooded her mind.

What on earth had gotten into her?

_Shit._

A knot formed in her stomach. Tamsin, of all people.

Slowly she got out of bed, trying to think of what to do next. How to face her. She slipped into the clothing she found lying on the floor – her underwear and blouse – took a deep breath, and walked downstairs.

Tamsin was sitting at the kitchen table, fully dressed, sipping coffee and reading in some book she had found on Lauren's shelf. When Lauren came down the stairs Tamsin tried to look at her lazily, through her dark lashes, but Lauren could see anticipation hiding behind her relaxed attitude. She wasn't sure how Lauren would react to her either, when the sun was up again and the blurring darkness gone. So Tamsin raised an eyebrow, looked at her across the rim of her coffee mug, and said "Good morning." It sounded more like a question to Lauren, though, and if Tamsin had asked her opinion more blatantly she'd have said no. It was most certainly not a good morning.

Instead Lauren mumbled "Morning," and did her best to saunter past the Fae towards the coffee machine, ignoring her lingering gaze on her naked legs. "I didn't think you were the kind of woman who'd stay overnight."

"Ouch. Well, I can go if you want me to," Tamsin said to the book in her hands without moving a single inch from her chair.

"No, sorry," Lauren rubbed her eyes and waited for the caffeine to kick in, "that's not what I meant. I'm glad you're still here. I guess we have to talk, and I'd rather do it sooner than later."

Tamsin said nothing.

Lauren sat down opposite her. She had no idea what to say next.

Finally the Valkyrie broke the silence, pointing at Lauren's phone, which lay on the table. "I think you have some unread messages." She hastened to add "Not that I read or looked or anything, it just wouldn't stop buzzing all morning."

Lauren frowned and took it up.

12 missed calls, throughout the whole night.

All from Bo. She hadn't slept two consecutive hours as it seemed.

And two texts.

_I am so sorry. Please, let me explain._

_Please._

Lauren didn't want to check the voicemail.

"Fuck." The word had left her lips before she realized that she'd opened her mouth.

Tamsin chuckled, but stopped as soon as she saw Lauren's expression. "Are you now going to tell me what really happened?"

"Bo," Lauren stated simply.

Tamsin nodded, tilting her head. "Well, she was pretty pissed that I gave her ex-girlfriend a ring."

Her attempt to make Lauren laugh didn't work, though. Instead a wrinkle appeared on the human's forehead. And then, after a long pause, she uttered, quietly, testing whether she could say it without falling apart, "I saw her and Dyson."

There, it had left her lips. It didn't feel as bad as she had anticipated. It still hurt like hell, but she could see more clearly, discern her emotions from her mind. She would just have to get over it, like she always had when Bo and her had argued or hurt each other.

Of course that was a downright lie - she had never gotten over anything - but a comforting one, so she tried to make it true by sheer power of will.

And Tamsin said "Shit" pretty loudly. For some reason that helped, too. She looked like she was about to say something else as well. She didn't, though. So Lauren asked her instead about what happened to her yesterday evening.

Tamsin nodded, understanding her want for distraction.

"We -" Lauren was grateful that Tamsin avoided Bo's name "- found the Berserk's hideout. But it was empty. They did live there for quite some time, but not anymore. They left. And I have no idea why. It looks like they returned home, all of their stuff, their whole camp, is just gone. We looked around for a while, but we didn't find anything, so we drove back. I ended up in a Dark bar." Without looking at her Tamsin added quietly "Bo wanted to have a drink with you, I guessed, and I didn't want to be in the way. But then I got the text that you had vanished."

Bo had texted Tamsin, asking her to help her on the search for the human. Of course, Lauren had left all her stuff at the Dal. Obviously Bo had realized pretty quickly that she had seen her and Dyson. Her calls and texts on Lauren's phone spoke volumes. Lauren played with the silver ring on her hand.

"I nearly panicked, for a moment I thought that the Berserks might have caught you after all. That's why I went looking for you," Tamsin added carefully.

"But they didn't. They vanished," Lauren said, raising her eyebrows. "And that isn't good because…?"

Tamsin frowned. "It's just nothing they would ever do. They swore to hunt me down until the end of my days. They would never give up like that. Only if…" Her voice trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Well, if they were called back."

"I still don't see the problem. That should be a good thing, shouldn't it?"

Tamsin wrung her hands and shook her head. Her voice became dark. "But what if he decided to take matters into his own hands?"

Lauren swallowed. "Bo's father?"

"Yes. If he does, we're dead," Tamsin stated simply. She studied Lauren's face for a long moment, looking for something in her expression. Apparently, she couldn't find it. For once her eyes were shadowed.

"But the sphere –"

The Valkyrie laughed bitterly. "It alone doesn't help. I could take out three Berserks easily, but against him we would need much, much more."

"But you said there were others."

"I have no idea where they are," Tamsin's voice was rising. "And even if, he is too powerful. There is no way we could handle him." She banged the coffee mug on the table.

"Tamsin," Lauren tried to calm her, confused by the sudden outburst, "you're not sure what he will do, right?"

"Of course I'm not," she exploded. "That's the problem."

"Even if he decides to attack us directly, we'll sort something out," Lauren said, soothingly.

It didn't work. Tamsin buried her head in her hands. Emotions she had long hold back poured out of her, into her voice, into her gestures. "Don't you get it, Lauren? We can't. He is too strong."

And then Lauren understood. Tamsin was _afraid._ The cocky, overconfident Valkyrie with a disposition for narcissism _feared_ this Fae, whoever he was. She was literally cringing when she mentioned him.

Lauren stood up. She went around the table and knelt down next to Tamsin, placing her hand gently on her back. "But nothing has happened yet."

Now Lauren saw why Tamsin had freaked out so much when she had accused her of running away. Tamsin did run, often, mostly leaving all the things she cherished behind, but not this time. She stayed, trying to fight. She had come up with the sphere, a protection against her past in Scandinavia.

But it didn't work. She could watch her plan failing right in front of her eyes.

"Lauren," she groaned, "My world is literally falling apart around me. I can't hold on to anything. And this time I can't flee either, not for long, if he should decide to hunt me personally." And then, barely audible, she whispered, "I fucked up. I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

Lauren smiled halfheartedly. "Well, I'm not exactly innocent. Don't blame only yourself."

Tamsin was still bent forward, but at least she raised her head again. Suddenly their faces were very close again. She studied Lauren's smile, sadness in her eyes. Lauren opened her mouth to say something, anything, but no sound left her lips. Then Tamsin nodded towards Lauren's phone on the table, without breaking their eye contact, though. "For the moment you have other things to think about."

"Don't worry about me." Then an icy fear got hold of Lauren, crushing her chest. She had to ask, and her voice betrayed her sudden anguish at the thought, her attempts to hide it in vain. "Are you going to leave the city again?"

"No. Not right away." Tamsin shook her head and sat up again. "As you said, I might be reading too much into this. Maybe we're lucky and there is nothing to worry about." Lauren heard in the tone of her voice that she didn't believe it.

Both of them stood up, suddenly very aware of how close they had been again.

Before Lauren could say anything Tamsin mumbled "I guess it's best if I leave now." She looked down at the human, hesitating, maybe hoping for her to protest, but Lauren was at loss for words. This, their situation, their whole relationship, was so damn complicated.

So she just stared at her hopelessly, wrapping her arms around herself, as Tamsin went with long strides to the apartment door. When she opened it, she paused briefly, though, laughing bitterly to herself. "Look at that."

Lauren frowned and went after her, but Tamsin had vanished already down the stairs when the human reached the door. Then Lauren saw what had caused Tamsin to stop short.

Bo had already been here this morning, leaving a gift on Lauren's doormat. Two elegant roses, red and white, bound together by honeysuckle.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Yay, fifteenth chapter! Thank you all so much for reading, following, and reviewing. You're comments make this story so great to write.**

[To that regular follower who commented on anon about the angst in the last chapter, I am really sorry if I've upset you. And many thanks to Spyklv, you answered and commented brilliantly, as always! :) ]

XV

Lauren gave Bo three days. Then, she decided, she would call her back. Three days to calm down. Lauren herself needed them as well, to breathe, to think, to finally work again.

The last week had been crazy. The sphere. The Berserks in her own home. She still shivered when she thought about it. The following 'road trip', and what had happened afterwards.

Bo.

Tamsin.

Lauren had to get her head free again. But taking one step back was easier said than done. She was endlessly wired and restless, couldn't fall asleep at night, and if she did her dreams were confusing and gloomy. Her feelings were a hopelessly tangled mess. But there was no way out of this without sorting them out. Most of all she could slap herself for sleeping with Tamsin. Whoever had said that the best way of getting over someone was getting under someone else deserved a kick in the face. If she was honest to herself, Lauren actually liked the Valkyrie. Underneath all that pretentious snapping and smirking lay a gentle, caring, fiercely loyal person, just as fragile as everyone else. Maybe even more. Tamsin could be a great friend. And Lauren had screwed it all up. Maybe some distance would do them good.

And then there was Bo. Even after three days she had no idea how to behave towards her. Instead, Lauren was developing harsh impatience with herself, with her own inability to deal with the situation. At least she could think clearly again. Lauren had persuaded herself that Bo had done nothing truly wrong, after all. Something tactless and inconsiderate, yes, but Lauren had been the one to push her away in the first place. Lauren had no right to judge Bo's way of handling that. Somehow that had turned into her mantra, whenever her thoughts wandered off again and she found herself pondering about Bo.

And then she hadn't spoken to Tamsin in these days, either. The amount of unresolved issues in Lauren's life at the moment was astounding. Lauren got the feeling that the Valkyrie was avoiding her for the same reason.

On the second day, Lauren had made the mistake of listening to her voice mail. Bo had left just one message. Her voice sounded a little slurred, coloured by the tequila shots she had probably downed for courage beforehand. Her message was confused, incoherent at times, full of stuttered apologies. In addition to that the background noise made it immensely hard to understand the whole thing. Bo didn't say anything about the incident itself, though. It ended abruptly, probably when Kenzi had snapped the phone out of her hand. The word Bo used most was 'sorry', shortly followed by Lauren's name. Astounded, Lauren had realized that it didn't hurt that much.

She found herself listening to it over and over. Mostly at night lying in her bed, her eyes closed, as if the darkness could somehow hide her. There was no place in her firmly built self-deception to explain this stupidity. She should stay away from Bo for the moment, at least until she had sorted her feelings out. Listening to her voice didn't help at all. And she knew it.

But she wanted to hear her voice so badly.

So, to distract herself during the day, Lauren concentrated on her work. She hadn't missed much, but since the whole lab practically rested on her shoulders she had to catch up one most of the current projects. Not to mention the paperwork. In the last years she had become the most important scientist on the compound – for various reasons, really, not just her discipline, practice or intelligence; she also lacked the politic entanglements that prohibited many other Fae to work on the compound in general. Lauren was objective and resourceful. Hale might be the one giving orders, but Lauren managed their realization.

The bad thing was, though, that somehow her Light necklace had gone missing. And worse, Lauren knew exactly when she had seen it for the last time, felt the silver chain links running through her fingers before it fell down, and...

She refused to think about that for the moment. Instead, she turned her apartment upside down searching for it, and gave her best to hide its loss at work.

And then there was the silver ring. The strange connection to Tamsin's sphere. Lauren had wanted to give it back to her, that morning, but forgot about it. There had been too many other things in her head.

The ring had one good effect, though, that Tamsin hadn't mentioned before. Preparing her lunch on the third day – the Damocles' sword of calling Bo swaying to and fro close above her head had made her leave early at work today - Lauren had cut herself in the finger, out of unjustified nervousness. She had thought she had heard a noise, from someone standing in front of her apartment door, and since she was still expecting Bo to show up uninvited she had flinched. But of course nobody had knocked; it was probably nothing but her own uneasiness at the moment. The twitching movement had been enough, though, to press her right thumb against the blade of her knife. A jolt of pain had shot through her hand and arm.

But before she reached to water tap to rinse the cut, something strange had happened. A tingling sensation had begun to trail down her hand, from the ring finger downwards over her palm into her thumb. It was cooling, easing the pain that throbbed upwards into her arm. Lauren was fascinated. The little wound, really just a very small cut, closed right in front her eyes.

It healed. Without any further signs of blue lines, though, like during Tamsin's regeneration. It looked like someone had fast forwarded the healing process. The little drop of blood dried, vanished, and soon a new layer of soft skin covered the cut, as if the wound was already several days old. It prickled softly once more. A warm feeling replaced the soothing cool one. Then the sensation stopped.

But the surface of the ring started to blur. Lauren frowned and looked closely at it. Something seemed to be breaking through the grey veils its layers consisted of. A single filigree letter appeared on the ring. A rune. It shimmered luminously blue for a heartbeat, and vanished again. If she had blinked, she would have missed it.

But Lauren had seen it long enough. In its brightness it was imprinted on her retina. She left the preparations of her meal standing in the kitchen and hastened into her office upstairs. From memory she committed the rune as accurately as she could manage on paper, scribbling frantically. At first it was frustrating, she couldn't find the exact right angles. Which resulted in thinking of pecking her finger with a pin to see whether the rune would reappear again. But then she tried jotting it onto the back of one of her file reports, and finally found the right shape, the same on as on her ring.

Lauren had still a lot of books from the compound at home, from when she'd tried to find out more about Tamsin's obscure past. Those she opened now, trying to find a translation for the rune. Flipping through the pages, her heartbeat quickened. She knew the feeling. She was on the brink of something big.

Then she found the first rune table.

In retrospect it was quite logical, really.

Comparing the letters in the book with her sketch she realized that on her ring she had seen not just one, but three different runes. Uruz, Berkana, and Laguz; or falling rain, birch, and water. Combined they formed a common healing spell. It had flickered when it healed her finger.

But the real discovery was the Elder Futhark itself, the complete rune alphabet, created by three groups of eight letters each. These twenty-four runes functioned as words. Each had dozens of more or less solid definitions or names. There were dozens of pages, whole chapters, devoted to every single one. She had skipped them before, thinking that they weren't important.

Together they composed an intricate system of spelling. Lauren had stumbled across the writing and structure of a whole language. Their implications were massive. According to legend, you could form any sort of spell or charm with those runes.

And apparently, the sphere was ruled by them. Lauren sat back, staring at the ceiling.

Tamsin wanted to use the sphere actively, not passively. At the moment all the sphere could do was drawing energy from Fae that threatened the person that was connected to it, or from Fae touching it in general. But the Valkyrie wanted to reverse the effect.

That's what the small sphere in the cottage at the lake had done. That one had allowed Tamsin – and Bo – to come close because the Valkyrie had known its former owner. But the Berserks would have been driven away by it. The question was why? Why would it actively attack Fae, not just wait for them to touch it? Keeping Fae away like on Lofoten?

The sphere was formed by purified Fae energy, energy of all different sorts of origins. That's what Fae fed on. Human lives, one way or another. The sphere gathered that like a vacuum and released the energy again only to heal. They would have to mirror the effect. And the runes were the key.

Then, maybe, they could form a protection, a shield, against the Fae who was hunting Bo and Tamsin.

Lauren's hand rushed towards her phone and dialed Tamsin's number before she realized what she was doing.

Tamsin picked up after the first ringing. "Yes, Doc?"

Lauren sighed internally. There were back on those terms. But her excitement was too great to be stifled by onomastics. It spilled into her voice. She was exhilarated. She had finally solved a giant part of the puzzle. "Could you come over for a second? I think I found something. About the sphere."

Tamsin paused for a second. Lauren could hear traffic noises in the background. Then the Valkyrie drew in a deep breath. "Can you come to my office? I'll be there in a minute."

…

When Lauren reached the police department, there was no sight of her, though. She tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade the coffee machine in the corner of the office to brew a hot beverage for her. Lauren highly doubted that the resulting black liquid could live up to the generally accepted standard you'd define coffee as, but at least it would contain caffeine. She hoped. It wasn't working, though, the machine just blinked vigorously. Lauren was just staring at it angrily, contemplating whether the effort was worth the anger, when she heard footsteps approaching. And then Tamsin's voice in her ear, unnecessarily close. "You're not wearing your collar."

Lauren flinched, causing Tamsin to chuckle. For that exact reason Lauren wore a high-necked shirt, a similarly looking necklace with silver links, and her hair open. Nobody had noticed it so far. She did her best to hide it, since not wearing a sign of Alignment broke Light rules. Of course Tamsin spotted it right away. Her exceptional talent for picking up little details like this, her gift for perception, was annoying at times.

Lauren refused to answer and hit a promising looking button, repeatedly. Tamsin stepped around her and leant against the table. She crossed her arms, watching Lauren with glinting eyes. A smirk played on her lips. She radiated confidence. "Do you need help?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine."

Before Tamsin could reply she was interrupted by a police officer who had the bad luck to need her signature on a case file for some reason. She just lifted her eyebrows at his mumbled request. He began to redden, visibly, when she didn't show any other sign of reaction.

"Detective?" He asked finally, a little helpless. Lauren felt pity for him. Tamsin was intimidating.

"I'm just trying to remember your name," the Valkyrie drawled, narrowing her eyes.

"Uhm, I'm –" the man started, but Tamsin interrupted him. "Oh wait, I've just realized I don't care."

She practically snatched the file out of his hands and signed it swiftly. While doing so she sneered "The next time, do me a favour and leave it on my desk, will you? I don't like being interrupted when I'm having a conversation."

"But I thought it was very urgent," he mumbled.

"And what gives you the impression that I'm interested in your opinion?" Tamsin smirked at the officer, eyes flashing. Her smile was dangerously close to baring her teeth. The officer seemed to finally understand the concept of rhetorical questions, and left quickly. Lauren was sure he nearly stumbled over his own feet.

"Maybe you could be a bit more polite?" She said, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Tamsin grinned at Lauren. "I was. You don't want to see me when I'm rude." She eyed the human's futile attempts with the coffee machine a second longer before she said "If you're so desperate, let me show you the café around the corner. I really want to hear what's so urgent about the sphere."

Lauren pondered for a moment. It sounded tempting. Tamsin probably didn't want to talk about her Stæin where so many people could listen.

And Lauren definitely didn't want to run into Dyson accidentally. So she followed the Valkyrie, bantering back and forth with her.

…

The café turned out to be nicer than Lauren expected. They found a little table in the corner, where they sat down, Lauren with a steaming cappuccino and Tamsin with an over sugared espresso.

The Valkyrie started stirring in her cup. Of course she couldn't help but say right away what she had on her mind, accentuating it with a crooked smile. "You really have a knack for hurling yourself into Fae lives. Bo's a mess because of you."

Lauren flinched, burning her tongue on her first sip of coffee. Thoughts she had carefully locked away in the back of her head started cascading through her mind. Why couldn't Tamsin be nice and easy, just once? Why did she bring up Bo? "She? Because of _me_?"

Tamsin looked up again, her expression blank. "Have you seen her lately?"

"There is –" Lauren fidgeted. Tamsin's brutally honest way to approach subjects Lauren would have circumvented wasn't easy to handle. She took a deep breath. "We're not dating. There is nothing to talk about. Bo lives her life and I live mine."

Tamsin laughed. "Are you sure about that? And could you figure that out soon, please? Dyson is annoying the heck out of me."

Lauren's hands dropped into her lap. She leant forward. "Okay, I'm _not _doing this anymore. You can't just drop hints all the time and expect me to stay calm. What about Bo and Dyson?"

Tamsin smirked broadly. "I knew it would get to you."

Lauren glared at her. "Then stop mentioning it!"

"It's not that I don't like Bo," Tamsin drawled, "She's okay, I guess. But her talent for making bad life choices is breathtaking."

Lauren raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

"Maybe it's in her blood. She is the daughter of my greatest enemy, after all," Tamsin chuckled to herself. "What a great situation we're in."

Lauren still refused to reply. Tamsin finally looked up at her again. She sighed. "Okay. I'll stop mentioning her if you stop playing impassive."

"What?!"

"I said stop-"

"I've heard you the first time, I was just checking whether you had the nerves to repeat it," Lauren shot at her. "Are you seriously trying to tell me that _I_ should show my motives more openly?"

Tamsin laughed melodiously. Then she studied the human for a moment. "I'm just trying to figure you out."

Lauren fell silent, staring at her angrily. The Valkyrie was unbelievable.

Tamsin didn't stop, though. Thoughtfully, she added "That's actually one of your strongest traits. Behaving like nothing can touch you."

"Do me a favour and look in the mirror," Lauren retorted.

Tamsin smirked. "Just sayin', doc."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Can we talk about why I'm actually here now?"

Tamsin nodded, her eyes still glittering.

"Remember when you told me to find out how the sphere works? I think I just did."

"How?"

"It told me. It showed a rune when it healed me and-"

Tamsin choked so hard on her last sip of espresso that Lauren feared for a moment she'd spit it out again. "It did what?!"

"Healed me. I cut my finger slightly," Lauren repeated patiently when Tamsin had found her breath again.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "It's not supposed to show you anything."

"Well, it just did. Three runes. I even translated them, they mean-" Lauren couldn't say much else.

"You're supposed to find a scientific mechanism!" Tamsin burst out, her voice rising. Her fingers clasped the edge of the table, her knuckles white. Her green eyes were glinting again, but not from amusement. She was close to shaking with anger. "Use magnetism or whatever, not the dead language of my ancestors, for God's sake! I don't care how you do it, just not that way." Suddenly her face fell. All the fury left her, as quickly as it had come. Her hands dropped into her lap. She stared at the table, saying more to herself than to Lauren "I don't believe it. You're a fucking Erilaz."

"And what is that supposed to mean again?"

"Nothing, forget it, really." Tamsin rubbed her eyes and was about to stand up again.

Lauren didn't want to let her go. "No! What the hell is that? Did you know about the runes? Tell me!"

"No. No, I won't, Lauren. This stuff is dangerous_._ You're already in far too deep. I'm not pulling you any further into this. Did you read in your clever books how the runes were invented in the first place?"

Lauren looked at her for a long moment. Then she sighed deeply. She pulled the ring of her finger - it left a a strange, hollow sensation behind, she had really become used to its soothing feeling on her skin – and offered it to Tamsin. "Here. Then take it back."

Tamsin stared at her as if she had just committed sacrilege. "What?"

"Your ring. I don't need its protection anymore, do I? The Berserks are gone, and you're obviously not going to explain what I found."

"Jesus, Lauren, you are the carrier. You can't _return_ it." Tamsin crossed her arms in front of her chest and narrowed her eyes. "And don't you see how valuable this is? If you wear it you're practically invulnerable. Fae can't attack you, because it would suck their powers. And as you've just found out yourself, it heals all your physical wounds as well."

"But it's yours!"

"It's not. I gave it to you. The sphere chose you, and you will keep it." Tamsin's shoulders slumped down decisively. "End of discussion."

She even clenched her teeth. Lauren couldn't help but smile at her vigor. She had underestimated how highly Tamsin cherished the sphere. "Okay." She dropped the ring into her pocket. "But what if I find out how to get the sphere and the ring with the runes to cast a protection shield against unwanted Fae?"

Tamsin sighed. "I really don't know. I wanted to avoid it. At all costs. That's why I went to you. I thought you would find another solution."

"I guess I won't."

Tamsin looked away, her face overshadowed. Without another word they stood up and left the Café again. The afternoon sun was still warm, Lauren could feel it tickle her arms and face. They decided to walk back to Lauren's car.

Tamsin shoved her hands in her back pockets. "And you wanted to give it back to me," she laughed suddenly, shaking her head. "Don't you see how strong that ring makes you?"

"Well, I don't see how that ring is of any worth to me. I work for the Light. They protect me."

"Jesus, how can someone so intelligent be so spectacularly ignorant? I mean your place within the Fae!"

"Fae Elders don't employ humans, they own them," Lauren recited, sadly aware of her own worth to Fae.

Tamsin threw her hands up. "Don't be ridiculous, Lauren. You have more influence than most of these Fae in the compound. You're Hale's most valuable resource." She pointed at Lauren's chest. "Did you know that the Morrigan once offered Hale a huge amount of money to buy you? She didn't want you to gain influence over Bo, even if that would have been a nice side effect, she wanted you for your abilities. Hale declined. You don't just run the science department; Lauren, your knowledge and abilities are unique. Hale would be screwed without you."

Lauren frowned. She had never seen herself that way, and didn't plan on doing so. But Tamsin had a point.

Tamsin accelerated her pace, gesticulating, in her voice an air of desperation at Lauren's lack of understanding. "For God's sake, don't you see? For a human you are already exceptional. But with this ring, with the sphere to back you up, you're almost Fae. If you'd break up your alignment you could…" Her voice trailed off.

Lauren didn't encourage her to talk further. This topic was dangerous. But she had gained a whole new point of view on the silver ring on her right hand.

They reached Lauren's car.

Since they still hadn't mentioned the night three days ago Lauren thought it looked more and more like they would just forget what happened between them. She was glad about it. No feelings hurt, no awkwardness between them.

"See you around, Doc?"

"It's Lauren."

Tamsin smiled. "See you around, Lauren?"

"Sure."

Only when she was sitting in her car again, Lauren realized that she hadn't asked about the Berserks. For a moment she pondered over Tamsin's remarks about the silver ring, the connection to the sphere. She slipped it back on her finger.

…

Lauren was less than half an hour at home again when she heard a faint knocking on the door.

Lauren cursed under her breath. She had wanted to be the one to initiate their next meeting. But three days without any form of communication on Lauren's part were probably too much for the succubus. Lauren opened to the door hesitantly, a knot already forming in her stomach. She had been right. It was Bo.

Lauren crossed her arms, leaning against the door frame. "Yes?"

"Can we talk?" Shoving her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, Bo's gaze dropped to the floor. Her face was puffed. Dark circles lay beneath her eyes. Even her gorgeous black hair was ruffled. She looked like she hadn't slept in days. She avoided Lauren's eyes, but the human noticed that her gaze lingered on the silver ring on her finger. Lauren remembered that Bo couldn't see her aura as long as she wore it, and that her powers wouldn't work on her as well.

Lauren studied Bo, but remained in her position, and said, quietly, "Maybe a clean cut would be the best."

"Clean? Seriously? This situation is the messiest I've been in with you, and we have been through a lot," Bo protested. "Please, just let me explain. And if you decide to cut me completely out of your life, I'll go and never come back."

Lauren leant her head against the door frame, frowning. _No_, she wanted to shout. _No, no, no._ She'd never want that. How could Bo even begin to think that? She was far too important for Lauren.

And the point was that a thousand things like that three days ago could happen, and how Lauren felt about Bo still wouldn't change. She could invent as many self-deceiving mantras as she liked, persuading herself that she was better off without Bo as her girlfriend, that Bo needed someone Fae, that Lauren stopped loving her, but the truth would hit her again every time she saw Bo's face. Bo's kiss with Dyson had ripped the veil from Lauren's eyes, more than her own kiss with her could ever have.

Suddenly she felt angry. At herself or Bo, she wasn't sure. Their lives were intertwined in a complicate pattern, messy, Bo was right about that. Bo was essential not just to Fae politics, but to Lauren's relations within the Fae world in general. Maybe apart from Tamsin.

Bo's granddad owned the Dal, her ex-boyfriend worked with Lauren on cases, her ex-boyfriend's best mate was Lauren's boss. Bo was everywhere Lauren turned. Generally that didn't mean anything bad, not at all. The young succubus had brought a glimpse of kindness back into the Fae world Lauren had thrown herself into. Bo had her ties everywhere. If Lauren wanted to avoid her forever she would have to loosen them all. The only way to do that would be to move away, basically. Cutting Bo completely out of her life would do more than rip it apart, it'd practically destroy it. Why was that so hard for Bo to see? Did she really think that Lauren could let go that easily? Lauren was not going to start anew again, just because of her. She had invested too much into this.

Bo was not going to get away easily, not this time. Lauren was past escaping her problems. She was done with that. Yes, the Light Fae had enslaved her, chained her to this place at first. But this was her home now. She did work that actually mattered. She had found friends. She'd fight for it.

Lauren would stay. Bo and her would work this out. No matter the outcome. It would hurt, she was sure of that, but Lauren wouldn't budge. She had made the decision that walking separate ways was for the best of both of them, and she'd do her best to stick to making good decisions.

She didn't want to start her life anew, but her relationship with Bo. Draw a final line, a new starting point.

With all those thoughts running through her head, Lauren looked at her, and sighed. Finally, she opened the door further and let Bo enter.

Bo's steps were timid. Her whole posture had lost her self-assurance. She waited in the entrance area, until Lauren gestured further inwards, inviting her to sit down. Bo followed her lead. She wrung her hands, shifting uncomfortably back and forth on the couch. She bit her lip and avoided Lauren's eyes.

"First of all, thank you for letting me talk to you." She spoke haltingly. Lauren sat down opposite her in an armchair and listened. So Bo said "I just want to make matters clear."

Luckily she didn't expect an answer from Lauren.

Bo's voice had a trembling edge to it that she fought desperately against. "Kenzi said that you might have seen Dyson and me."

"Why did you do it?" Lauren was surprised by how cold she suddenly sounded.

Bo took a deep breath, composing herself. "Yes, I fed off Dyson. And now I feel terrible for it. It wasn't fair, neither towards you or him. I shouldn't have let him persuade me. I didn't know what to do anymore, and he was there."

"I know you're a succubus, Bo," Lauren replied, still cold, "we have talked about it often enough."

"That's not what I meant, not this time," Bo said, her eyes slowly filling with tears. She blinked rapidly to drive them away, throwing her head back. "God, why is this so complicated? Lauren, do you have any idea what happened at the Docks? What Tamsin said to me? She told me that my _father_ was trying to get me." Bo's voice was rising, but she tried to control herself. "We started talking after we dropped you off at the Dal. She explained to me what she thinks he wants from me. That he calls himself the Wanderer. He thinks that after the dawning I'm strong enough to join him. Tamsin told me what that would mean." Bo sounded aghast, even afraid. She had to swallow a lump in her throat before she continued. "I didn't believe her at first. Of course not. It sounded like complete bullshit. But then the Berserks were gone. You should have seen Tamsin's reaction. I've never seen her like this before."

Suddenly Lauren felt a pang of guilt. Of course she hadn't told Bo about what happened between her and Tamsin, and if she was honest she didn't want to. She wasn't sure what had happened herself. She had needed someone, and Tamsin had been there, just like Bo and Dyson. But apparently, both Lauren and Tamsin hadn't been in the very best situation to begin with.

Bo kept on talking, staring at her hands in her lap. "You know I grew up without my real parents. At least I met my real mum, but not my Dad. And now I don't know how I should handle this family thing. I don't know what I am supposed to do. I am not good at this. Who is my father really? Why did he leave me and my mum? Or did she leave him? Of course she never told me anything, and you know that we didn't have a very good relationship. But I own him at least a talk, don't you think? Maybe Tamsin's wrong and he is not that bad."

Bo paused again. For the first time during her talk her eyes met Lauren's. She really wanted him to be a true father figure in her life. Something she had never known, not even with Trick. The human was overwhelmed by the emotions she saw in her eyes. Lauren just wanted to wrap herself around the succubus until she stopped looking like that.

But Bo continued before Lauren could bring herself to stand up. "I guess you understand that very well. Family is a difficult topic for you too. We never talked about yours. Of course I noticed that, I thought you would mention it in your own time."

Lauren looked away. Bo was right about that. And Lauren had never thought of how Tamsin's revelation could affect the succubus. She felt very sorry for her. This was Bo's own family history they were talking about.

"But that's just the latest thing on my list. There is the dawning as well. I don't trust myself anymore. Yes, I'm growing stronger and stronger, and yes, I don't need that much Chi anymore. Not at all. But I can't control my powers if I don't focus all the time. And _if _I draw Chi from someone it's getting harder to stop. I'm afraid of myself," Bo whispered. Finally, the tears started running down her cheeks.

She needed a moment to collect herself again. Out of a subconscious reflex firmly drilled into her body, Lauren reached for her without fully realizing what she was doing. She just wanted to comfort her, to make that look on her face go away. But Bo withdrew from her hand, mumbling, "Don't. Not now. Let me finish."

She wiped away her tears. Then she placed her hands on her thighs again, trying to be as calm and collected as possible. She couldn't look at Lauren, though. Her voice was low and soft again. "And then there are you." Her eyes flickered towards Lauren for a second. She took a deep breath. "You were right when we broke up. I focused too much on my own problems. This time I didn't want to affect you with them anymore. I wanted to fight for you. But I screwed up. Again. And I am so sorry about all this."

Lauren sat back, her eyes stinging now as well. Bo had just dumped a lot on her. She needed time to reconsider this and her own position. Lauren bit her lip.

Finally, Lauren opened her mouth again. She whispered shakily, "Bo, I'm sorry."

"No, Lauren, don't be. This mess is all on me. You did nothing wrong. Three days ago…" Her voice trailed off again. "I was hungry, I needed Chi, and Dyson was there. He is the only one I trust myself with fully at the moment. If I had tried to feed from someone else I wouldn't have been able to stop."

"But you took Chi from me in the morning, Bo. What if you had lost control back then?"

"How can you even think that? Lauren, I _love_ you, I could never–"

Bo's outburst left the three little words hanging in midair. Time was relative in this moment. Realizing what she had just said Bo stopped in the middle of her sentence. Her face fell. Her mouth formed a silent "Oh." And then, biting her lip, "Shit. Sorry, Lauren. I should just stop and never speak again." She stood up. "It's better when I leave now."

"No, don't," Lauren murmured. Of course it would be better. They were both too troubled right now. But against all reason she said "Please, stay."

Bo smiled halfheartedly and slumped back on the couch. They sat in silence for a while. At least no one was storming out again. An improvement.

Bo bit her lip. "Just one last thing. Please, let me be absolutely clear. I don't want to hurt you any further. I don't want to make any more mistakes. None. Whatsoever. I don't care about my feelings for you any longer. I just want you to be happy. As happy as possible."

"Oh, Bo." Lauren couldn't help but tear up again. "What do you expect from me? I can't just forgive and forget everything. We have so many other issues to get through."

"I know. But please, let's do that together again. Colleagues, friends, whatever. Just together."

Lauren smiled through the stinging in her eyes. She sighed, and cleared her throat. Bo remained quiet, though, so Lauren said, at loss for other words, "Well, thanks for the flowers."

Bo frowned. "Flowers?"

"Yes, the two roses. On my doormat the morning after?"

Bo was composed enough again to laugh awkwardly. "I don't know how many secret admirers you have and hide from me, but those flowers were definitely not from me. I spent the whole day at home, trying to cure my hangover."

Lauren frowned. She didn't know what to make of this. She had been sure that the roses were from Bo. But yes, come to think of it, there had been no card attached. Bo would have done that. She'd have tried to apologize in a small letter.

But who would have placed them there, if not her?

But before she could reply, a knocking on the door interrupted her.

When Lauren opened it she sighed heavily. Tamsin strolled across the threshold before Lauren even had the chance to say hello. But the three of them had to talk about the Berserks anyways, so why not now?

The Valkyrie waltzed in with the usual smug grin on her lips. Her face fell, though, when she saw Bo on the couch. "Oh gosh, I've just interrupted a moment."

Bo glared at her. "You don't say."

Tamsin turned around on her heels. "Okay, I'm out of here."

Lauren grasped her sleeve before she could hurry past her, though. "Actually it might be for the best, I wanted to ask you whether you know anything new about the Berserks anyways. And that ancient Fae from your home."

Tamsin frowned. But she stayed, contemplating Bo with irritation. She clearly hadn't expected her to be here. After another second of silent eye dueling with Bo she sunk into in the armchair Lauren had just vacated, forcing the human to sit down next to the succubus.

Then she tilted her head, drawling "I'm impressed, Bo, you've actually managed to beguile her again."

Immediately the already tangible tension between the two Fae became explosive. "Shut it, Tamsin," Lauren shot back before Bo could say anything. Bo looked like she was close to slapping the Valkyrie. But she took a deep breath and ignored Tamsin's provocation. The Valkyrie chuckled darkly.

Bo's eyes wandered from Tamsin to Lauren. "These rings of yours are really irritating. I can't see both your auras."

Tamsin and Lauren exchanged a quick look. Bo noticed it. She frowned. "I'm not missing anything, am I?"

"Do you want me to take it off?" Lauren asked, taken aback by the statement.

"No, actually, I kinda like it that way," Bo said thoughtfully. "I don't have to concentrate on my powers around you, so I don't spill anything accidentally. It's much easier."

"Well, let's see what happens when I do," Tamsin said, and slipped the ring off her finger, watching Bo closely with glinting eyes.

And indeed, Bo drew her breath in sharply. "What the _fuck,_ Tamsin?"

Lauren had no idea what was going on. Tamsin tilted her head to the side, smirking dangerously at Bo. She looked like a cat on the hunt.

"You screwed Lauren?" Bo exploded, jumping up. Suddenly her eyes turned iridescently blue. She bent forward slightly, clenching her fists. Her power flickered around her again, ruffling through the air like whispering voices. Her whole body was one silent, deathly threat. A low growl escaped her throat. Her voice cracked with anger, piercing the air like a knife. The succubus in her was raging. "How _dare_ you?"

Tamsin stood up as well. Much slower, though. "You can see it? My aura must be blazing." And then her face began to change. She smiled, as the skin around her eyes retreated, exposing the Valkyrie's skull. "Are you threatening me, succubus?"

"Hey!" Lauren burst out. She stood up and placed herself between the two Fae. "I have no idea what the hell you're doing right now, but both of you, stop. Now."

Bo tore her gaze away from Tamsin, blinking rapidly. The blue vanished as she focused on Lauren. "I- I have to get out," she whispered, stepping away from the human. Her expression turned from furious to stunned, bitter. "You did nothing wrong, but…"

"No, Bo, wait, it's not-" Lauren shouted after her, but the succubus had vanished before she could finish her sentence.

Then she turned back around to Tamsin, glaring. "I will strangle you."

Tamsin, normal again, just shrugged and smirked. "She deserves the truth, don't you think?"

"Get out," Lauren snarled.


End file.
